Beyond The Rim
by TheRealCody
Summary: The Crew of the Ghost races far beyond Wild Space on a unknown planet to rescue a long lost Jedi Master, before the Empire reaches him first. The path boasts danger is at every turn, What started as a simple Op, turns into all out war. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars Rebels, Its characters, or its content. They belong to Lucasfilms and Disney. My OC and the planet I own.
1. Book 1 Chapter 1

BEYOND THE RIM

BOOK 1

CHAPTER 1: CALL FROM THE PAST

The day began as any other would on Lothal, Hera and Chopper were fixing the Ghost, Zeb and Ezra were in the commons room, and Sabine was in her room painting her latest work of art, when suddenly, they heard Kanan's voice, in a cheerful tone he shouted. "Everyone, get in the commons room, there's something you all might want to hear!"

Quickly, the rag tag crew filled the seats in the room, waiting for Kanan.

"I wonder what has Kanan this excited?" Hera said,

Zeb just gave a chuckle and added. "As long as there are plenty of buckets for me to smash into each other."

Ezra was silent, but he could feel Kanan's emotions though the force, it was something of joy, relief, and eagerness. Very soon, the Jedi Knight entered the room, with his Holocron in his hand, all eyes we're on the glowing cube as the blue light pulsed. "Everyone, you're wondering what our next op is, this is no ordinary operation."

He placed the Holocron on the table and continued; "I know we've had a major victory recently over Mustafar, but we are still unprepared for what the Empire may throw at us, we'll need all the help we can get, which is why this discovery will help turn the tide of this rebellion."

He used the force to open the Holocron, when it opened a hologram of a man appeared, he was not Obi-Wan Kenobi as Ezra saw last time, he was much younger, clean shaven, and distressed. The figure then spoke "This is Jedi Master Jon Khan, I've survived the battle of Cato Niemoidia, but my ship is severely damage, on a planet that is not on any current star map, my R5 unit was able to map our coordinates, I'm sending them to you, find me, and may the force be with us."

The message ended with the coordinates taking his place. Kanan turned to Chopper and without hesitation said. "Record those coordinates."

Chopper quickly scanned the numbers and stated his reply, it was not the most positive or reassuring of beeps he's given. Hera looked at Chopper concerned, then to Kanan stating her opinion. "That planet is still not on any star map, we'll be flying in the dark, without any stops or any idea what's out there."

Kanan put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "It's a risk we're going to have to take. We'll have to be ready to depart; we leave today."

Sabine replied almost immediately in confusion. "Today, what's the rush?"

Kanan replied, but the smile that was on his face disappeared, he had a hard time trying to find the right words to say; "The message had to be sent through the Holocron, which means it had to be sent through the Jedi Temple before it could be sent to any Holocron, which means…"

Ezra finished his sentence with the same concern Kanan had. "The Empire knows his location too."

Kanan began to walk back to his quarters, before he left, he tried to muster the next orders. "We need to reach him before the Empire does. Head into town, get all the supplies we'll need; food, medical, weapons, explosives…"

"And paint." Sabine quickly added trying to get Kanan back in a good mood.

Kanan turned his head and smiled at Sabine "Yeah, get that too."

The rest of the crew got out of their seats and looked at Kanan, he looked to them and finished the briefing. "We'll meet back at the Ghost in one hour."

He left the room and the others soon went to their rooms to see what they would need.

Smoke filled the skies as any other day in Capital City of Lothal, the Imperial Headquarters always stood menacingly over the lower structures and the people it asserted dominance over.

Agent Kallus and Minister Maketh Tua were waiting outside the office of Governor Pryce, they looked at each other nervously, as if they both knew what could happen to them.

Eventually the doors of the office opened, and they entered,

"Come, have a seat." The Governors voice sounded reassuring rather than furious.

The memory of the battle was still fresh in their minds, and the rebels they failed to catch we're responsible, and it had resulted the loss of Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, the life of the Grand Inquisitor, and the people of Lothal starting too question if the Empire was truly powerful and it claimed to be.

Kallus began to check behind him, fearing they would meet the same fate as Commander Aresko and Taskmaster Grint at the hands of Lord Vader, who arrived on Lothal a few days earlier to meet with Tarkin and Governor Pryce.

The Governor stood up from her seat and looked down at the two groveling officials, she tried her best to smile at them.

"Despite the disaster faced over Mustafar, a new window for redemption has come to our fortune. There exist Jedi, who escaped the Jedi Purge, and many of them have evaded the Empire for far too long. But the ISB has send me a communication sent from the furthest reaches of the galaxy, directly to the Imperial Palace."

She began to play the message though the hologram projector on her desk, it was the same message the rebels have received, as the holocron's message revealed the stranded Jedi's location, Minister Tua looked up in surprise:

"The fool dug his own grave!" She exclaimed.

Pryce looked at her and added; "And you'll make sure he puts good use to it. The Emperor is sending another garrison of Storm Troopers here to pursue the Jedi, Minister Tua, I trust you to command them and lead this expedition."

Minister Tua froze and gazed as into deep space. Governor Pryce then glanced her eyes towards Kallus.

"Agent Kallus, I trust you to be her Second in Command."

Kallus looked confused as he tried to find the correct reply.

"Governor Pryce, If I may be bold to ask, why are you giving us such privileges?"

Governor Pryce's eyes drilled into Kallus as she answered; "The planet these quadrantes lead to is too far out to be reached by any chart or map, there is no other charted planets or stations on the way there, some even question if this planet is even in the galaxy. If you can even land safely on this new world, it will be for the glory of the Emperor and that could redeem you from your misadventures with six lone rebels."

Before another word could be said Kallus' commlink began to beep. He stood up and pressed the button; "This is Agent Kallus, what is it?"

A Storm Trooper replied; "We've spotted the Rebel Lasat in the market, here in the lower city."

Agent Kallus put on his helmet and rushed for the door.

"I'm on my way, do not engage till I arrive!"

The two women left the room and watched the ISB Agent bolt down the hallway.

Governor Pryce looked at Tua and commented. "Tell me, is he often so, flamboyant on these rebel reports?"

Tua smiled and answered; "Only when the Lasat is there."

A group of Tie Fighters flew over the market, as they usually do, vendors we're selling fruits, ration bars, water, and other items of interest. Ezra was with Sabine in an alley.

Ezra released a great groan and turned towards Sabine, "How much longer do we have to wait for your dealer!"

Sabine looked down on him and rolled her eyes, "He's always provided for me since we came to Lothal, since It may be a while if we can come back to Lothal, I had to buy in bulk."

Then a shadowy figure came down the alley, pushing a large create, Sabine came right up to him, her tone of voice changed from a scolding tone to a more polite tone.

"Mr. Alitar, thank you for everything you've done for me so far."

He shook his head and replied, "No Sabine, thank you for all you're doing for us. And I've been able to put in some extra cans of orange paint."

Sabine gave him a big hug, and passed him a small sack full of credits, she then took the create and she and Ezra walked out of the alley and into the open market.

Ezra kept looking back at Mr. Alitar as he blended in with the crowd and turned back to Sabine. "So, he's the guy giving you your paint supply?"

Sabine replied. "He's one of the first people I've helped on Lothal, once he heard of my artistic talent, he thought this is how he can repay me for saving his life."

The two continued down the market path, until they saw Storm Troopers checking Identifications. They turned to conceal their faces. As they walked past the stormtroopers. Once Ezra saw they we're out of earshot and sight of the Storm Troopers.

"Well, that was easier than I though." He said.

Suddenly, a small explosion and continuous blaster fire rang out from the other side of the market.

"I spoke too soon. They must have caught Kanan and Zeb!"

Sabine grabbed Ezra's bags and additional supplies and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'll head back to the Ghost, keep your eyes on the sky for us!"

Sabine ran towards the city entrance while Ezra dashed towards the sounds of the firefight.

Kanan and Zeb vaulted behind cover, civilians ran for any direction's blaster bolts we're not going, as stormtroopers began to fire upon the two rebels.

Zeb snarled; "So much for getting extra Jogan Fruit for the road!"

Zeb pointed his Bo-rifle out of cover and hit one of the advancing Storm Troopers.

Kanan tried to fire at the Storm Troopers, but incoming blaster fire caused him to duck back behind cover,

"I'm Pinned" he yelled out loud.

Before a Storm trooper could overrun him, a cluster of stun shots hit the Storm trooper, knocking him out.

Kanan turned and saw Ezra jump from the roof and ignited his lightsaber, landing in front of them and began to deflect incoming blaster fire.

"Nice of you to join the party, Ezra." Kanan then ignited his lightsaber and joined Ezra at his side.

The Stormtroopers continued to fire despite their overwhelming abilities of the two Jedi. Then Kallus turned the corner with additional Storm troopers, he pointed and yelled; "Take those rebels out!"

Zeb saw Kallus take out his Bo-rifle and pointed it towards him. Zeb snarled and charged out of cover, "He's Mine!" Setting his rife into the staff position as well.

Kanan grabbed Zeb before he could run right past him. "Zeb, we don't have time for this party!"

Ezra forced pushed Kallus and several of the Storm troopers into a market stall. Kanan suddenly heard the Ghost fly overhead, "Alright kids, it's time for a road trip."

The three rebels ran towards the roof, they saw the Ghost circled around, and heard a squad of Tie Fighters in the distance, the ramp of the Ghost opened, and Hera spoke over the commlinks.

"Alright love, we got to make this quick, it's going to be a scoop."

Kanan and the others braced to jump, when the Ghost got close, they jumped and manage to roll into the cargo bay, two Stormtroopers crest over the roof and we're hit by the Ghost's ramp.

Before the rebels could catch their breath, Hera came over the comms "We got incoming, on those guns now!"

Sabine was already in the nose gun picking off some of the Ties, Kanan ran for the top turret, and Zeb ran for the phantom's guns, Ezra was looking around for something to do to help, when Hera shouted, "Ezra, secure our supplies!"

Ezra rushed around the cargo bay, tying the creates down too the floor as Hera twisted and turned in orbit, causing the creates to roll around. Ezra was slide swiped by boxes and ran against the wall, when it moved he stood up, trying to ignore the pain of the heavy box that just pinned him caused, he stood still and watched the chaos, he whispered to himself "I need to focus."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he began to use the force, putting all his focus on getting the crates to hold still, the boxes slowly floated in the air and fell into place, once they we're set, Ezra ran as quickly as he could to tie them down.

The Ghost soon reached orbit and flew into space, the number of Star Destroyers increased over Lothal since the events of Mustafar, and they we're all converging on the Ghost.

Kanan stared as the Star Destroyers converged on them and questioned; "Hera, which way we supposed to go?"

he got the reply he wished he didn't hear. "Right between those two Star Destroyers."

Sabine looked straight ahead at the two Destroyers, the thin gap between them, and the number of Tie Fighters in the way. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Hera hit the throttle, the Ghost flew though the swarms of Tie Fighters, the crew picked them off as they passed by or tried to come in from different angles. A Tie got behind the Ghost and began to strafe it. Sparks few around the cockpit and started a small fire, Chopper panicked and put it out with his fire extinguisher.

Hera looked to Chopper "Put in those coordinates now!"

Chopper put his adapter into the Ghost's Navi-computer, moments later he gave some happy electric beeps, Hera smiled, she pulled the lever as the hyperdrive began to rev up.

The Star Destroyer captain saw the warning of the Ghost path towards hyperspace, his mouth opened wider than a Sarlaac Pit. "E... Evasive action! Now!"

The Star Destroyers turned as quickly as they can, but to no avail, The Ghost flew right past them and into hyperspace, the electrical shock turned off all the Star Destroyer's electricity.

The captain turned to a bridge hand "Once the power is restored, alert Agent Kallus, the rebels have escaped."

The Ghost flew though hyperspace, the crew gathered in the commons room to celebrate their escape and dealing another blow to the Empire.

Kanan passed Hera and Zeb glasses of spiced drink, and Sabine and Ezra some juice boxes.

Sabine looked at her drink protested "Hey, I think I'm old enough!"

Hera looked at her and smiled. "Not by my standards, Sabine."

Sabine gave Hera a sarcastic look and took a sip of her juice box, accepting the defeat for now.

Kanan smiled and raised his glass. "We got a long road ahead of us. Its going to be a few weeks of travel, don't try to stare out the windows for too long, they say that's how you get Hyper-Rapture. Try to keep yourself busy and entertained, the Ghost will be more of a home then ever."

He put his hand on Hera's shoulder, and the two tapped their glasses together, Ezra stood up and raised his juice box; "To Master Khan, wherever he will be, but we will bring him home."

The whole group put their glasses and juice boxes together and toasted to their journey, as the Ghost transported them towards uncharted space.


	2. Book 1 Chapter 2

BEYOND THE RIM

BOOK 1

CHAPTER 2: HYPER-RAPTURE

* * *

Through the kaleidoscope of lights and patterns, the Ghost was nothing in the void on its way to an unknown destination. Inside the two Jedi took the opportunity of newly acquired free time to spar in the Ghost's cargo hold, while Sabine and Hera watched from the platform above, while Zeb and Chopper were tinkering on the speeder bikes the crew had in the middle of the chaos. Ezra was able to parry every swing Kanan threw at him, Kanan lunged forward with a swing, Ezra raised his saber to block, the two blades collided, and flashes of light emanated from the contact point. Ezra turned his head to see Hera and Sabine watching, he gave a wide smile, he then turned back towards his master and pushed forward, breaking the lock.

Kanan stood back and wiped the sweat from his brow, "Your skills are improving, Ezra. Just keep focused."

Ezra just smiled and blocked another swing of Kanan's Lightsaber. "Without the Empire on our tail, I can say the focus part is a piece of cake."

The two lunged at each other and locked their sabers together, Ezra quickly duck down and swept Kanan leg with his foot, knocking Kanan to the ground, before Kanan could get up, Ezra pointed his Lightsaber at his master's face.

Kanan just smiled as Ezra deactivated his lightsaber and reached out his hand. "Alright Ezra, you win this round."

Ezra ran his hand through his hair with a cheerful expression on his face.

Hera clapped her hands, catching everyone's attention, "Alright, I'm going to start on supper, we'll eat in thirty minutes, make sure you guys wash up. And please, don't waste all the hot water."

She made her way to the ladder and climbed up to the upper levels, Zeb grabbed the nearest rag he could find and wiped the oil off his hands, while Kanan made his way towards the ladder, but Ezra noticed Sabine, looking out the forward turret window of the Ghost, just staring into Hyperspace. "Hey Sabine?"

Sabine quaked at the sound of Ezra's voice, and turned around with a pale look on her face, as if she had seen a ghost. "Oh Ezra, it's just you."

Ezra clearly saw Sabine's uneasiness and asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is okay, no need to worry kid." She folded her arms, looked down and walked away from the window, nudging Ezra on the way.

Ezra looked out the window Sabine was staring out of, his eyes were focused on the spinning patterns, he felt as though he was falling into a trance, but before he felt it fill his eyes, he felt something pull him back into reality, he turned his head away from the window and never looked back, he somehow lost most of his breath, and was sweating again, he was almost tempted to look out the window, but overcame it and made his way towards the ladder.

* * *

The crew had gathered in the galley, Ezra was the last one to enter, he saw the others sitting at the table, laughing. His eyes turned towards Hera, he was surprised to see her wearing a colorful apron, loading multiple plates with foodstuff.

Since they decided they would be far away from the nearest Stormtrooper, they could actually have real food rather than relying on space waffles and ration bars.

Hera carried the 5 plates to the table, putting them before each member.

Kanan saw Ezra standing in the doorway. "Ezra, come on, you don't want to have this go cold."

Ezra sat at the table, next to Zeb, it was a tight fit, but they made it work, Hera pulled up a spare chair and sat at the table, Ezra took a spoonful of the foodstuff and put it into his mouth, he felt like his taste buds just snuck into one of Lothal's best restaurants.

Kanan also finished his first bite and had the same reaction, Hera smile at their reactions and looked at her plate to find a juicy portion of Nerf steak.

Chopper began to beep, as if he had opinions on Hera's cooking as well, Kanan then turned to Chopper with doubt on his face, "Wait, you can't eat food, how can you know the taste?"

Everyone started laughing, even Chopper. Everyone, accept Sabine, who hadn't even touched her food. Hera took noticed and turned towards Sabine. "Sabine?"

Sabine looked around, she saw everyone looking at her, she took deep breaths, her eyes turned towards the food in front of her, she started to make her way off the bench, "Thanks... but I'm not hungry. I think I need to go lie down."

Everyone watched as she began to walk out of the galley, shaking with each step, when she left the room and the door closed, everyone was silent for a moment. Kanan was the first to break the silence. "Is she alright?"

Hera tried to recall the past few days and found her reply. "I haven't noticed any symptoms since our trip began, but maybe…"

Ezra remembered at the beginning of the trip, Kanan mentioned something about Hyper-rapture, he then interrupted Hera with his discovery. "I saw Sabine staring out the window after my training, maybe she caught Hyper-rapture."

Ezra saw the expression of Hera and Kanan's face, it looked like they had seen death face to face, the two stepped away from the table, and dashed towards Sabine's room. Ezra turned to Zeb, who only shrugged and the two also stood up and made their way to Sabine's room.

When they arrived, they were stopped by Kanan and Hera, blocking the doorway, also looking inside her room. They saw Sabine curled on the floor; her eyes were wide open, expressionless.

Hera was the first one to step into the room, approaching slowly, without saying a word, she slowly reached out her hand and attempted to tap Sabine on the shoulder, when her hand made contact, Sabine let out a bloodcurdling scream, making everyone jump back.

Hera regained her footing and continued walking towards Sabine, whispering. "It's alright, your safe here, everything is going to be okay."

Sabine breathed heavily, Hera helped her off the floor and carried her to her bunk, she then tucked her in, Sabine turned her gaze towards Hera, Sabine's breath returned to a normal rate a few moments later, she then closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

Hera turned towards the others, "Find out all the ways to treat hyper-rapture, we are going to be in hyperspace for several days, and we can't afford it getting worse, I'll stay here and keep an eye on her."

Kanan simply nodded and motioned for the others to follow him.

* * *

"Hyper-Rapture." Kanan read his typing aloud as he entered the word into the Holo-net search engine, soon the screen was overrun with a thousand results; _History of Hyper-Rapture, Hyper-Rapture the opera, Hyper-Rapture, ten things you didn't know. _Kanan began to scroll through the results, and eventually found a page published by a medical site.

"Here we are." He exclaimed.

He started to skim through the article, near the bottom he stopped and read the section aloud "The best way to treat hyper-rapture is to stop your ships travel in hyperspace and travel at sub light till the symptoms pass. If you do not stop, the madness will get worse, and may cause permanent damage to physical and mental state."

Ezra saw the solution simple; "Alright, so we just stop the ship for a while and wait till she gets better."

Kanan turned and looked at Ezra, Ezra could tell there was already a problem, "I wish that it can be that easy, if we drop in and out of hyperspace, we'll only end up losing more fuel, and won't have any to make it back."

Zeb look towards the main consoles fuel gage and pointed at it "Are you sure we'll even have enough for a return trip?"

The others looked at the gage as it was already at the halfway mark.

Kanan stood up from the terminal and said to the others "We'll have to tell Hera."

Kanan and Zeb left the room, but before Ezra left the room with them, he turned towards the cockpit window, staring out at hyperspace again, he felt as though there was something out there, stalking them, before he felt like he was falling into another trance, he looked away and exited the room.

Hera looked at Sabine resting, and turned towards the others, "We have less than fifty percent of fuel left in our tank, if we stop and switch to sub light, we will still be able to reach the planet, but..."

She looked down at her feet, trying to muster the rest of her sentence, she looked at the others, waiting for her to finish, she finally was able to finish the sentence. "We won't have enough fuel for a return trip."

Zeb slammed his fist into a nearby table. "Karabast! We're going to be stranded out there are we!?"

Hera turned towards Sabine, making sure she was not awakened by Zeb, she saw Sabine was still sleeping. She turned back to Zeb. "Don't worry, I think I have a plan for that. We can send a message to Fulcrum; she and Commander Sato will have ships with enough fuel to be able to reach us and take us back."

Ezra remembered meeting the mysterious Fulcrum weeks ago, the former Jedi known as Ahsoka Tano who rescued them from Mustafar. He then added to Hera's argument; "So, we'll stay in hyperspace, contact Ahsoka, and just carry on."

Hera nodded her head. "I'll go make contact with Phoenix Squadron." Hera began to make her way to the cockpit.

Chopper joined her and opened a communication channel on the ghost's main terminal in the cockpit, Ahsoka came in on the other end, she began to speak.

"This is Fulcrum, what's wrong?"

Hera looked at the Torgruta and began to state their problem. "We're taking an extra-long operation to a planet at these coordinates, we won't have enough fuel to return back to Lothal or the habited areas of the outer regions of the galaxy, we'll send a distress call out once we've completed our mission."

Ahsoka looked at Hera with confusion. "What is so vital at these coordinates to take such a risk?"

Hera answered. "We received a distress call from a lost Jedi Master named Jon Khan, do you know him?"

Ahsoka was surprised, her arms uncrossed and feel to her sides as she pondered on her former Jedi years. "I remember Master Khan, he was a bit of or renegade, he never really had a firm belief in the Jedi way of conduct, much like my master, but he was effective general during the clone wars, when the news reached us of his disappearance, we mourned him as if he was dead."

Hera looked Ahsoka in the eyes and gave her a cheerful smile. "I bet he'll like to see a familiar face once he gets back."

Ahsoka returned the smile to Hera, "May the force be with you."

The hologram disappeared back into its projector. Before Hera could leave the room, she looked at the Ghost's cockpit window, she saw the lights swirling and bending, she did not move or make any sounds, she just stood there and stared.

* * *

The others were waiting near Sabines bed, looking at the resting Mandalorian, when they heard distressful beeps from Chopper, Ezra and Kanan dashed towards the Ghost's cockpit and saw Hera pulling at Chopper violently, ripping off lose panels bare handed.

"Hera!" Kanan shouted, Hera looked at the two Jedi and Hissed, without warning she leaped on Kanan, knocking him to the ground, she pounced on top of him and tried to scratch at him, although she was wearing gloves, causing little harm to Kanan.

Suddenly a zap of electricity shocked Hera out of her trance, she fell down on top of Kanan, he looked at Hera, she was stunned by chopper's electro-shock prod, Kanan got back on his feet, and threw Hera's arm around his shoulder.

"What happened! She was like a crazed Loth-Cat!" Ezra exclaimed.

Kanan grunted, "I don't know, if she doesn't tear my face off when she wakes up, we can ask her."

Moments passed, they watched over Hera, her eyes were shut, and she was not moving, Zeb tried to put his hand on her forehead, only waking up Hera who reacted by punching him in the face as she gasped for air, frantically she asked; "What... What happened?"

Zeb tried to relocate his nostrils and tried to speak "We we're hoping you would answer that for us."

She looked at her fist that just undercut Zeb's nose and thought for a moment.

"I… Can't recall, the last thing I remember was staring out the window…"

Ezra approached Hera and held her hand. "You almost ripped Chopper and Kanan apart, like a Loth cat."

Kanan joined in with his conclusion. "It's Hyper-Rapture. Hera, this has affected Sabine, and its affected you, we have to drop out of hyperspace, or we could risk both of you losing your minds, or risk all of us from catching it too."

Hera thought to herself, weighing the options and their consequences, she looked down in doubt, but Kanan reached out for her hand, and looked her in the eyes.

She looked at the other members of her crew, knowing the challenges they faced and will face, and how they've always found a way to overcome the obstacles.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Kanan, if you trust us all, drop the Ghost out of hyperspace, we'll travel at a drifting speed."

Kanan kissed Hera's hand. "As you wish my lady."

Kanan walked to the Ghost's cockpit, and put his hand on the lever that controlled the hyperdrive, he suddenly lacked the courage to pull the lever, knowing they may not last in the unknown, but he soon felt Ezra's and Zeb's hands join the lever, then Hera's and shockingly, Sabine's, they looked at the Mandalorian, still covered in a blanket, she smiled at the older Jedi, he returned the smile, he then looked forward, and in unison, they pulled the lever, the ghost dropped out of hyperspace, in a space between stars.

They looked straight ahead, in front of the window, seeing a small cluster of stars, nebulas, and color. Ezra looked at the display of the starts in front of them. "So, it's true, it is another galaxy."

Sabine looked at all the color and turned to the others. "If this is really uncharted space, how about we give this galaxy a name? How does, The Specter Galaxy sound to you guys?"

The others chuckled for the moment.

Hera ran her hand though Sabine's hair. "That actually sounds good. The Specter Galaxy." They continue to view the new galaxy though the front cockpit, as the Ghost slowly drifted towards its destination.


	3. Book 1 Chapter 3

BEYOND THE RIM

BOOK 1

CHAPTER 3: SUB-LIGHT TERROR

* * *

As the Ghost drifted harmlessly through the Specter Galaxy, the crew members were in their own bunks, resting, when an alarm blared. The crew woke up, and ran down to the cargo bay, still in their pajamas, Ezra wore a matching light blue shirt and pants pajamas , Zeb just wore his jumpsuit without all the armor pieces, a blindfold, and a nightcap, Sabine was wearing what looked to be an old imperial academy gym uniform shirt with a few paint stains and bloomer shorts, Hera wore a floral nightgown and Kanan wore a long green robe the others kept calling a dress.

When they reached the Cargo bay, they stood in line, Chopper was already in the cargo bay, waiting next to the control panel when he saw the 5 rebels had lined up, he stopped the alarm, he then told the crew the results. "Thirty seconds, a new record." Hera boasted looking at the half-awake crew.

Zeb released a monster yawn, "What's the point of all these drills, we're in the middle of blasted nowhere. There's not a single Bucket head for millions of parsecs!"

Hera rolled her eyes at Zeb. "This is day fourteen we've been drifting towards the coordinates, we could expect anything, if we get too comfortable this whole trip, who knows what damage it can do to our awareness and strength. Think Fast!"

Before anyone could react, Hera threw a red ball towards Zeb, who reacted too slowly, and got a face full of the sphere. The other crew members we're now wide awake as they saw Hera and Chopper reach into a box procuring more of the red balls, and began to toss them towards the others, In the wake of the first volley from the Twi'lek and her droid, Sabine and Ezra gathered the balls began throw them back, Laughter began to fill the room, as the group dogged each other's throws, Chopper threw a ball that hit Kanan right in the stomach, as he went down to the ground. Sabine flanked Hera and Chopper managing to hit the droid, but not before Hera caught the ball in midair and tossed it back at Sabine putting her out of the game. Hera then turned towards Ezra, the two began to stare at each other waiting for the next move, Ezra threw the ball at Hera, she simply moved her head. "Ezra, you know that won't…" before she finished her sentence, she felt a hit on the back of her head, causing her to fall forward, she saw what the boy had done, he used the force to pull the ball back to him, and her head was right in its path. She saw the ball return to the hands of the young Jedi.

Ezra began to chuckle and started spinning the ball on his finger. "Looks like I win."

Hera smiled, and pushed herself back on her feet. "Alright everyone, looks like Ezra wins today. So, winner, what's going to be for breakfast?"

* * *

Ezra started flipping the flat cakes in a skillet and when he saw the golden brown crust, he flipped them onto a nearby plate, and drizzled some purple syrup onto the top and let it run down to the sides of the stacks of flat cakes, he then balanced all 5 plates onto his arms and brought them to the table to his hungry friends. The other crew members looked at the spectacle he had just put before them. "Dig in everyone."

Ezra watched as the crew took their first bites, he swore he saw their eyes begin to sparkle. Sabine turned to Ezra first, still with a mouth full of flat cakes "Ezwa, diz iz amazing!"

Kanan made sure to swallow his food first before he commented. "Ezra, where did you learn to cook like this."

Ezra sat down and twirled his knife into position to cut into his portion. "There was this outdoor kitchen in Lothal, I watched the master cooks make them up close, then it was all about acquiring the ingredients and practice. This is my eighth-time making them."

Zeb took one of the flat cakes and ate it in one great bite, once he swallowed the cake he turned towards Ezra. "You should make these more often, kid."

Ezra smiled as he watched the others continue to eat their breakfast. In the cockpit, something phased through the walls, floating in the air, it looked around where it was, and sensed a presence it had not felt in a long time, force sensitives.

* * *

Kanan washed his face in the ghost's refresher room, he checked his face in the mirror, he saw some of the hairs on his face began to grow to a noticeable length, he turned his head and began to search for his Vibro Razor, once he found it, he looked back at the mirror, he looked at the reflection and saw a ghastly skeleton figure right behind him, he turned instantly only to find himself alone. Suddenly a loud bang slammed on the door, scaring Kanan and almost sweeping him off his feet, he pointed the razor at the door and turned on its electrical function on, but rather than hearing one kind of monster, he heard another kind. "Hurry up in there! I've been waiting for fifteen minutes!" Zeb roared.

Kanan let out a sigh or relief, and began to shave, "Sorry Zeb, I'm almost done."

* * *

Hera and Chopper were in the cargo bay, fixing one of the terminals. "I never imagined having this much free time. When we return to face the empire, the Ghost may have some extra tricks to amaze them."

Chopper chirruped his opinion, Hera just started laughing, "No Chopper, I don't think we're going to give the Phantom a flamethrower."

They continued to work, when all of a sudden, a large box fell over behind them, creating a large crash noise once It hit the ground. Chopper began to squeal, Hera did not seem to mind it, she simply turned around to see if one of her crew members did it. "Sabine, Ezra? Was that you?"

The pilot heard no response from the two kids, and decided to go look herself, she simply walked over towards the box, but bliss turned into fear, as she saw a skeleton hand phase from the Ghost's wall into the vacuum of space, Hera let out a gasp of fear, and almost fell back in terror, but the boxes behind her caught her fall. She rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming, she stared at the wall for a moment, and saw nothing. She then felt a sudden pinch, but she recognized who's hard that was.

"Chopper? You saw that too, right?

Chopper let out a series of bleeps in disagreement, Hera wiped the sweat off her brow. "Maybe we've been working for too long, let's get something to drink."

* * *

Sabine and Ezra decided to paint one of the walls in the main galley, to look like Lothal. Ezra was glad to be involved in this little project, he never had the chance to help Sabine paint and impressionistic pieces before. Sabine stopped spraying one of the walls and stood back to get a full view, she took a moment to admire her interpretation of the rock formations, then turned to Ezra for his opinion. "Well, how does it look?"

Ezra looked at the vibrant color, despite the low lighting in the ghost, the bright colors Sabine used really compensated for it.

"It looks just like home." Ezra smiled, Sabine really began to notice this was the longest time Ezra has been off world, she began to ponder what will help remind him of home, "You know that old com's tower you lived in?"

Ezra turned to Sabine and smiled, "Like the back of my hand."

Sabine smiled and handed him her airbrush, Ezra took the Mandalorian's tool, and began painting the wall, when the fumes clear, they did not see just a tower, but the decaying face of a skull, before they could react or question what they were looking at, it gave a loud screech. Sabine and Ezra leaped from the floor, covering their ears, and screamed. The screech from the creature was so sharp, everyone in the Ghost heard it, and rushed towards the galley.

Hera and Zeb arrived with Weapons drawn, while Kanan attempted to keep his towel on. They saw the two kids staring at the wall, and saw for only a second, the face withdrawing into the wall. Zeb's eyes widen, "What the Frell Was That!"

Hera turned towards Zeb, "I think I saw it in the cargo hold, I'm not sure what it was…"

She turned her head towards Kanan mid-sentence, and just paused, Kanan saw Hera blush, and realized he was wearing just a towel. Kanan gave Hera a glare to remind her of the urgency of the situation, she slowly turned her head towards Sabine and Ezra. "But… But I think it was something spacers and cargo pilots talked about. They called them Starweirds."

Sabine looked puzzled, she studied all about the history of the galaxy, but never heard of a Starweird. Zeb Clutched his bo-rifle close to him, obviously frightened. "Is…Is it going to eat us!"

Hera tried to calm Zeb down "I've never heard of them eating people, but they are still dangerous."

Zeb's eyes widen; "That thing can phase through walls and scream so loud that the whole galaxy can hear it!"

The walls suddenly creaked, the crew began to look around to see if the Starweird would phase through. Ezra was the first to break the silence; "We need to stick together, if we are separated it will pick us off one by one."

Kanan started thinking. "Well, what are we going to do about me?"

Everyone was reminded of Kanan's lack of apparel. Hera blushed again. "You… You will need to be quick about it. The rest of us will be outside your cabin just in case it phases though the wall."

Kanan began thinking of the worst possible outcome. "But what if…"

Hera blushed even harder. "Yell if you got clothes on, scream if you don't."

Kanan awkwardly nodded and ran towards his quarters and closed the door, the others waited outside with their weapons drawn. Ezra noticed Zeb was shaking. "Don't tell me you're afraid of some space ghost."

Zeb clutched his bo-rifle again. "You were the one squealing like a child!"

Sabine hit Zeb's shoulder, Zeb let out a great scream. When Zeb finished, they heard the screeching, the crew covered their ears, despite their efforts, it was too much to ignore, then they heard Kanan yell. "Guys, It's in here!"

* * *

The Crew stormed into Kanan's cabin, and they saw him face-to-face with the Starweird. Without a moment to think, the rebels began to fire all their blasters, the Starwird phased through the all blaster shots, and raised its arm, before the crew could figure out what it was doing, then they felt the ground under them left the bottoms of their feet, and a sudden push them towards the wall behind them. The Starweird then passed through the wall, back into the void.

"Woah!" Sabine exclaimed, "It can use the force!"

Everyone looked to Kanan if he knew about the Starweirds ability in the force, but Kanan had no words to explain what they had just witnessed. "All I can say is that it was after me, it tried to kill me."

Hera began to weigh some options. "The spacers said they lost them by going into hyperspace, but we don't have enough fuel to maintain even a short jump."

Zeb heard the metal siding of the ghost creek. "I don't think we'll be able to fight them either!" he exclaimed.

Ezra was thinking of ideas of his own, when he felt an ice-cold hand grasp his ankle, he looked down to see the hand of a starweird, followed by its deformed face phase though the floor. Without hesitation, Ezra turned on his lightsaber in an attempt to free his leg, he hit the starwirds hand, the starweird let out a bloodcurdling screech as it hand fell, flinching on the cabin floor. The crew was frightened to see the hand still moving, they drew their blaster and fire every bolt they could shoot till it stopped moving. When the smoke cleared, they could barely make out the motionless hand amidst all the carbon scoring. Ezra took deep breaths as he stared at his glowing lightsaber blade. "They aren't immune to lightsabers."

Kanan realized it was the only way they were going to defend themselves and grabbed his lightsaber off the table. "This could work, is it possible we can gain distance from them?"

Hera thought carefully. "We may not have enough fuel to make a hyperspace jump, but if we route all power to the engines, we could be able to outrun them."

* * *

Zeb peaked out of Kanan's cabin, only to see four starwierds occupying the main hallway. "Gah! I see four of them between us."

Kanan walked towards the door and in front of Zeb, "Don't worry, Ezra and I can take care of them, just keep close and watch our backs."

The two Jedi drew their lightsabers while the others prepared to run. They ran out of Kanan's cabin, The starweirds screamed and started to hover towards them, Kanan and Ezra began to swing their lightsabers, cutting the starweirds Infront of them to pieces, The starweirds began to point their arms at the jedi, Kanan felt a cold chill running down his spine and he stopped. "Ezra, deflect!"

Ezra was confused, he turned to look at the starweirds, and in a flash, lightning started to come out of their hands, Ezra was just able to raise his lightsaber to block the lightning. The starweirds kept shooting lightning as both Ezra and Kanan began to move forward towards them, being so close, that the starweirds began to fry themselves with their own lighting, till they fell to a chard crisp on the floor. Before any further action could be taken, the crew turned towards Zeb as he began coughing. "Aw! They smell terrible!"

Sabine chuckled. "That's what I thought when I moved in with you."

Zeb's face with blank, before he could find something to fire back with, the others ran past him into the cockpit. He looked at chopper who only gave him a droid equivalent to a shrug, and went for the cockpit. When Zeb and Chopper caught up to the others, he noticed a blank stare on their face. "Hey guys, is everything alright?"

They others, almost machine-like, turned around and said in unison, "We will kill the Lasat and the droid."

Zeb looked out the cockpit, and saw an entire army's worth of starweirds, reaching their hands out, and it looked as though their mouths were moving.

Chopper knew this was not going to end well for both of them, and quickly rolled back behind the door and into a corner, hopping the others did not see him.

Before he could grasp the situation, Kanan swung his lightsaber at Zeb, he was able to dodge the Jedi's lightsaber and grabbed his arm, He began to pull Kanan towards him and punched him in the face, he then leapt towards the controls and began to press any button he could reach, he felt the other grab his leg and attempted to pull him away from the controls, as he felt his grip slipping, he saw the lever for the hyperdrive, with all his effort, he reached out and grabbed the lever as the other pulled him back, taking the lever with him. The hyperdrive revved up, and the ghost jolted into hyperspace, knocking Zeb onto the others behind him and under his back.

* * *

Zeb caught his breath as he heard the others groan underneath him, he first heard Hera's voice, less conformed, but angrier, and totally squished. "Garazeb Orrelios! Get off of us!"

With the full effort and the help of the other two specters under his body, they managed to push him off of them. Zeb got to his feet first and looked for the right words before Hera thought of a punishment. "Those things, they put you in some sort of mind trance!"

Hera looked with confusion and she tried to remember, but before she could reach a conclusion Ezra spoke. "I think Zeb was right, I can't recall anything after we got into the cockpit, All I felt was cold."

Sabine also began to bring her own theories to the discussion. "Impossible, Kanan said that mind tricks only work on the weak minded."

Zeb chuckled, "Maybe that's why I was not brainwashed."

He began to regret those words as he saw the frustration in the eyes of the three rebels In front of him, before they could think of creative ways of revenge, they heard Kanan groan

"Ack, I think something broke my nose. Does it look broken?"

Chopper rolled back into the cockpit, he waved his manipulators around and began to play a hologram of all that had happened, the others were shocked to see they were put under a force mind trick to kill their friend.

Kanan sighed "Those creatures were much stronger in the force then we realized, thankfully, we had someone stronger to stop them."

Kanan put his hand on Zeb's shoulder. Hera then stepped forward. "Zeb we're sorry, even though it was not acting as ourselves, but also for the things we said."

* * *

The others smiled, but suddenly the Ghost began to shake violently, Hera rushed towards her chair and dropped the ghost out of hyperspace, her attention was drawn to the fuel meter. "Bad news, we're almost out of fuel, I don't think we can drift and keep all the systems running for long we have to start ration…"

Hera paused, she noticed the others we're staring out the window, she turned to se a massive blue, green, tan, and white planet In Front of them, she took a moment to stare at it, before looking at the Navi-computer, she then turned again to the others,

"We're here. I think we might have enough fuel to reach the surface."

The crew stood together again, staring at the planet Kanan looked to where the computer was aiming for them to go. "Alright specters, prep for an op."

The Ghosts engines rang alive and began to take the crew towards the surface, into a new adventure.


	4. Book 1 Chapter 4

BEYOND THE RIM

BOOK 1

CHAPTER 4: THE WILDERNESS

* * *

The Ghost began to make its slow and steady approach into the atmosphere, its crew monitoring all instruments and equipment to get a reading on the planet's biosphere. Hera toggled her sights between the coordinates and the sky, making sure they would not overshoot a possible landing zone, or crash into any elevated terrain or foliage. "The clouds are too thick; I can barely make out what's in front of us!" Hera exclaimed.

Zeb approached the front of the cockpit and started to squint his eyes. He then chuckled; "Don't be so concerned, Hera. I don't think there are any mountains at this height."

Turbulence kicked in and started to shake the Ghost. Hera tried to grip the controls harder to stabilize the Ghost. "I think we've entered the lower atmosphere; the clouds should give way shortly."

Kannan all of a sudden stood tense, as he stared out into the sky, his eyes opened wide as he felt something big the distance in front of them. "HERA! WATCH OUT!"

Without hesitation, Hera hit the reverse engines, in the time it took for the Ghost to fully stop, the shadow of a large tree revealed itself through the clouds.

The entire crew stood in awe as the Ghost made its descent into the canopy, watching the forest around them swallow the Ghost till it reached the ground.

Hera began to check the screens all around her. She slapped the sides of one of the monitors and glanced at the words and images that came across the screen.

Once she was satisfied with the results, she turned to the rest of the crew.

"It looks like we've landed in the south eastern hemisphere. This is a multi-biosphere planet, forests, jungle, plains, deserts, oceans, and snowcaps. The oxygen is fresher than most planets we've been to. It looks like we've landed at the just a click out from the coordinates provided. Ezra, you and Kanan go and see if you can find master Khan, the rest of us will stay here and try to send a message to Ahsoka."

Without a moment for Kanan to even nod, Ezra stood up from his seat; "You got it Hera, come on Kanan lets go!" Ezra said enthusiastically, he squeezed his way past the others and down the ladder. Hera stared at Kanan who simply shrugged and made his way over and down the ladder to the cargo hold.

* * *

The cargo bay ramp lowered, Ezra and Kanan felt a cold fresh breeze of air rush towards them, they took a moment to take in a full breath to see if the air was as good as Hera claimed it to be.

They began to take their first steps out onto the soil, and look around, they hear the chirping of winged creatures, and the humming wings of small insects. Kanan reached for his Holocron and began to focus.

Ezra watched as the Holocron turned into a pointer, Kanan moved the Holocron with his hand to see where one of the pieces we're pointing. Kanan began walking in the direction it was pointing, and nodded to Ezra, "let's go." Ezra began walking towards Kanan till they we're side by side.

As they walked through the forest, Ezra looked up at the trees, he saw some of the winged creatures sitting on the branches, and blue sky above the canopy, he was glad to see blue skies unpolluted by factory smoke, he was glad to breath in fresh air, to hear the sounds of nature, to see a beautiful world untouched by the Empire.

Kanan was more focused on the Holocron as it started to spin in all directions. "Somethings not right, it says we're right on top of it."

Ezra's eyes began to look around but saw nothing but fauna and the trunks of trees, then he looked up. "Uh, Kanan, I think he's on top of us."

Kanan shot his eyes straight up, to see a Jedi Starfighter jammed between two trees. Without hesitation, He took a mighty leap onto the fighter, Ezra followed suit.

When he landed on the fighter, he was surprised the fighter had gotten so well stuck, that it did not move with the weight of two Jedi. Kanan scanned the cockpit but found it empty, Kanan just stood and stared at the empty cockpit, Ezra saw tears in Kanan's eyes as he just stared. Ezra began to pat his master on the back in reassurance.

Kanan's eyes then turned to where the Astromech was stored and was relieved to see Master Khan's droid was still there. He quickly tried to clear his tears and tried to try to lift it out "Ezra, give me a hand with him, this droid is the only chance we have of finding him."

Ezra reached to assist his master, as the two struggled to pull the droid out from the socket. Between huffs of air, Ezra complained. "Why are these droids plugged in so tight?"

Kanan took a breath. "It's an anti-theft measure Master Skywalker suggested after the Separatist tried to steal his."

Before another grunt or breath of air could be drawn, the droid popped out of the socket as the two jedi tried to stabilize after the sudden release. "Nothing to it." Kanan jested.

* * *

They lowered the droid down onto the Ghost floor as Sabine began to look it over. "Well, it's definitely an old model, it's seen a lot of water, hence the rust. But all the interior memory banks should still be intact, He'll just need an oil rub and charging, I'll get started now."

Chopper began to complain and point and jab at Sabine "Yow! We don't have any other charging stations Chopper; I'll make sure to wash it once he's fully charged."

Chopper just released a large droid groan as he went back towards Hera.

Hera heard Chopper's plea to keep the other droid from his charging platform, but Hera decided to put it as a last priority. She turned to Kanan and smiled, "The good news is we manage to send a message out to Fulcrum."

Kanan raised an eyebrow when Hera said good news "Good news? Is there also bad news?"

Hera folded her arms "I thought it had to be super far range, but there seems to be a Supertanker fueling depot at a midway point I managed to send the message halfway through. Those platforms are highly regulated in the Empire, and they only move into those positions if there are no stops for their Star Destroyers, which means the Empire is already setting up to reach here."

Kanan checked to see if Ezra was near to hear the conversation, he looked outside to see Ezra out of earshot, looking at colorful winged insects on the flowers. He then turned back to Hera. "I don't want word of this getting to Ezra, if he learns the empire is on its way, it will remind him too much of his own planet, how it's been plundered by the Empire, I can feel it in the force."

Hera put her hands on Kanan's shoulders. "Don't worry, Ezra knows the best way to help worlds like these are to stop the Empire and starts by finding Master Khan and recruiting him for our cause. Have faith in that, love."

Kanan smiled at Hera, his eyes turned to Zeb who was moving the speeder bikes out of the back storage and into the main cargo bay. Zeb looked at Kanan and raised his eyebrows "I take it you didn't find Khan?"

Kanan just nodded, lowering his head, Zeb realized Kanan's worry, but motioned towards the speeders "Well, he couldn't have gone far, we'll find him on the bikes once you give the word."

Kanan smiled "Thanks Zeb."

* * *

Sabine was in Hera's cabin, working on the astromech when it chipped to life. At first, she heard the worry and concern of the droid. "Easy little guy, I'm not a scavenger, we're here to help you and your friend, Master Khan. Do you know where he is?"

The droid began to look into its memory banks and gave Sabine the answer she was looking for.

She brought the droid down to the cargo bay, after carefully setting the droid down she turned to the others. "He knows where Khan is. Show them R6."

The droid began to project an image of Khan onto the Ghost's floor. They all had their eyes transfixed on the Jedi Master's hologram as he began to speak. "…If someone does find me, I'll make sure to come back for you. Now, if you've found my droid and manage to access its memory bank, then you must be a Jedi or rescue party. It's day twelve since I've been marooned on this world. Supplies are almost all depleted, power cells are all drained, and the weather is turning more hostile. I'm making a trek on foot to the west to follow wild game and attempt to reach warmer weather. I know not if I will survive this winter, or If I'll be able to make it back here, but I trust in the force that you will find me. May the force be with you."

The hologram disappeared; everyone was silent. Zeb was the first to break the silence, "So, which way is west?"

Hera scratched her chin "I guess I can measure the magnetic rotation from the rotation axis from this planet, and that should help us get going in the right direction. Then we'll head wherever it leads west."

Ezra was confused. "So, we're leaving the Ghost?"

Hera nodded again "She can't fly, and we don't know how far west he went. Going on foot will be our only chance. Everyone, gather what you need, we may not have the chance to return, so travel heavy."

* * *

Everyone was in their bunks gathering what they saw as essential. Ezra took a long glance at a toy loth-cat he owned. Zeb looked up from his pack to see Ezra inspecting it. "You're sixteen, you don't need some child's toy."

Ezra pushed Zeb in his side. "Spot is not just some child's toy… It's one of the few things I have left of my family."

Zeb quickly realized his error "Kid, I'm sorry, I didn't know. If you can't take him in your pack, I'll take him in mine if you want."

Ezra smiled at the plush loth-cat, but then turned to Zeb. "Hey, have to survive in the wilderness before?"

Zeb didn't look up from his pack. "After Lassan fell I had to survive in the wild, forging for food, medicine, and everything else. Why do you ask?"

Ezra started to stroke the fabric of the loth-cat. "I've survived in the city, there I could be guaranteed to find a meal, there was always someone new I could speak to, and there was generally no fear of, I don't know, getting eaten?" Zeb chuckled, "I don't think there is anything on this planet big enough to eat you, or foolish enough to take on me."

Ezra grinned. "Because of your face, or your smell?"

Zeb's smile quickly went away as he returned to packing up.

* * *

The crew began to load their packs, tents, and other supplies on the speeders. Sabine was about to put a large pack on when Hera attempted to assist her, she was surprised when she felt the weight of the pack. "Sabine Wren, what are you packing in here?"

Sabine watched as Hera was opening her pack, getting ready to catch what could fall out. "Just everything I need; extra clothes, a jacket, pajamas, data-pad, sample analysis kit, chemical mixing kit, explosives, paint…"

Hera reached in to pull out a small box, she attempted to open it, but before she lifted the lid, Sabine swiped it for her hands. "That's… that's private…" She said nervously.

Hera looked surprised, but just brushed it off as another one of Sabines tech tools. She turned to Kanan, she saw him looking at something in his hand, she looked to see it was an image of him, his old master and master Khan together. "I didn't know you were close friends." She said,

Kanan slowly touched the image on his data-pad "They we're basically the family I never had, I've failed my master, but I won't fail Master Khan."

Hera gave Kanan a soft kiss on the cheek, Master Khan's R6 unit then rolled towards Hera. chirping concerningly. Hera petted the droid on the dome. "I know you don't want to go out there again, so we're giving you a special assignment, we want you to stay here and try to patch communications to us if a person named Fulcrum calls, do you think you can do it?"

The droid chipped happily, but Chopper was still upset and honked and groan. Hera scowled at Chopper. "This will only be for a short while Chop, and If you behave, I promise you all the oil baths and perhaps a new matching leg when we return to Phoenix Squadron." Chopper just flipped his manipulators all around and sucked in his pride.

Hera pressed her hand on the Ghost's walls. "We'll be back soon, I promise."

The crew slowly walked out of the cargo bay, walking the speeder bikes with their heavy cargo, and began to walk west.

* * *

Hours had past since they left the Ghost, the sun was near the horizon, Kanan was taking the lead with Hera behind him, Sabine was behind her, she put her helmet on to listen the music and zone out from the others, Ezra was behind her, taking in the views of the scenery they were passing, leaving Zeb and Chopper at the rear.

Kanan looked at the sun and then their surroundings, he then motioned for the others to stop, the others saw his hand jester and halted. "It's going to get dark here, this looks like a good place to set up camp for the night, unpack only what you'll need tonight."

The crew began to unpack their sleeping bags, tents, and nightwear. Kanan and Hera started to set up a power cell and glow lamp to charge Chopper and offer heat to combat the cold and to cook the remaining fresh food they had.

Ezra and Zeb set up their two-man tent, Sabine had a smaller one-person tent, same as Hera, while Kanan was competent with sleeping in a hammock close to the glow lamp.

The crew sat around the glow lamp, the sun had already set, and the temperature was brisk. They were just glad to have a hot meal tonight.

Zeb looked up from his plate. "So, how can we be sure where out west he is?"

Kanan shrugged. "I guess I could sense his presence in the force the closer we get."

There was a long silence while everyone continued eating their food. Then Hera leaned in on the Glow lamp. "Anyone got any good ghost stories?"

Everyone knew Zeb could not handle ghost stories, they turned to see him sink his head down, and wishing no one would have a good story.

Sabine leaned in. "I got a good one, you ever hear the tragedy of the Outbound Flight?"

Everyone was curious, everyone except Kanan who slowly sat up. Sabine looked at everyone to see she caught their interest. "I thought not, it's a tale only the Jedi would tell. Outbound Flight was a ship designated to explore the unknown regions. It had an entire crew of civilian engineers, explorers, and scientists, complemented by over twenty Jedi. This ship was prepared to deal with any threat that could come its way, it had enough firepower to give a star destroyer a run for its credits."

Zeb was shaking in his seat. "What… What happened to the Outbound Flight?" with his teeth chattering.

Sabine fixed her eyes on Zeb. "Outbound flight left to find worlds beyond the reach of the Republic and Separatist alliance, all contact was lost with the ship, some assume it was attacked by pirates, or the civilians mutinied, others suggested it was the wrath of the Architects who did not want the worlds they had isolated to be discovered by 'lesser' beings, so they trapped them in a world between worlds, where time and death have no existence, just endless torture. Some say if you fly along the original route they took, you'll hear their screams, their calls for help, and sometimes, you can feel their hands reaching out, to try to pull you in!"

At the same time, Zeb felt a cold touch on his shoulder. He bolted up screaming, the sudden burst scared everyone two, when they looked behind Zeb, they found a specter alright, specter three, as he chucked in droid binary, along with Sabine who laughed along.

Hera looked at Chopper furiously, "CP-10P! This is not the kind of place for practical jokes like these!"

Chopper was still laughing, but Sabine brought her laughing down. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get some sleep, good night."

She walked over to one of the packs and pulled out the box Hera tried to open earlier, walked into her tent, and zipped the door shut. The others began to stand up and walk over to their tents, before Ezra could enter his tent, he looked at Kanan who was sitting up in his hammock, he was still looking at that picture. Ezra walked over to him, "He was like a father to you, I know, You're like a father to me Kanan."

Kanan looked to Ezra and smiled. "Master Khan will be excited to see me again, and he'll teach us what we could not teach ourselves, Ezra."

Ezra nodded good night as he walked to his tent, he then closed the zipper and huddled into his sleeping bag, imagining what it would be like to have a full Jedi Master as part of the family.


	5. Book 1 Chapter 5

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 5: The Monster of Riverside

* * *

The Ghost crew continued walking through the woods, they've been walking for three day straight, walking, and walking, and walking.

Zeb reached for his canteen and attempted to take a large gulp, only to receive a tiny drop on his tongue. He looked into his canteen to see the interior metal shine. "Karabast…" he muttered

He walked to the back of the speeder. Kanan was walking to a large jug where they stored the water, he turned the tab, to see only a few drops of water fall into his canteen. "Uh guys, I think we've stretched out our water supplies."

Hera walked back to look at the jug, she lifted and tipped it on its side, getting the very last of the water into Zeb's Canteen. "Now it's empty."

At this point, the whole crew stopped to observe the situation. Sabine reached into her own pack and pulled out a few small white round tablets. "Not a problem, I got these water purification tablets, all we got to do is find a good enough water source."

Ezra scratched his chin and looked around, till he saw a large and tall tree. "I bet I can try to see if there is a source if I get up that tree."

Before Hera or Kanan could object, Ezra dropped some of his gear and began to climb up the tree. Hera looked all the way up the tree. "Just be ready to catch him If he falls or takes the express route down."

Kanan chuckled "I don't know, loth-rats are known to land on their feet"

Hera raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean Loth-cats?"

Ezra made his way above the tree canopy, and looked out at the horizon, he saw the green treetops, he felt as the wind brushed against this hair, he then saw a linear clearing that looked like it carved its way through the forest. Ezra knew that was the sign of a river.

Without hesitation, he jumped down, he felt the leaves and soft branches move and he fell to the forest level, he used the force to slow his descent and landed on the ground, Jedi style.

Kanan nudged Hera; "I told you Loth-rats always landed on their feet."

Hera rolled her eyes and walked over to Ezra. "Did you see anything."

Ezra pointed in the direction he saw the cut. "I saw a long clearing through the forest, I think it's a river."

Hera Smiled; "Lead the way."

Ezra ran in the direction as the other followed behind, pushing the speeders.

* * *

The crew emerged from the trees, and saw a river cutting the forest in half, the water looked clean and pure, Ezra ran through the riverbank sand, he learned over and looked at his reflection on the water.

Before the others had a chance to get a glimpse, he began to remove his books and roll up his sleeves, his pant legs, removing his boots, and gloves, and just started to enter the water.

He shivered just a little with the cold water, but got over it, he spooned up some water with his hand, and took a sip. His eyes widened as he tried to process what was in the water.

"Did he just…" Sabine said slightly disgusted.

He turned to the others. "Sabine, you got to save those tablets, the water here is so pure. You guys gotta try this."

Hera and Kanan walked onto the bank, while Sabine and Zeb stayed back. Sabine tugged at Zeb's suit. "How deep do you think that river is?"

Zeb squinted his eyes. "I say it looks about five meters deep."

Sabine almost curled up and shivered. "Yeah, I think I'll stay here…"

She handed Zeb the empty jugs, he began to walk to the others who began drinking some of the water. They almost didn't see Zeb, as he took a sudden splash of cold water from Kanan, meant to be aimed at Hera.

"Oh, Sorry Zeb…" Kanan began to back up waiting for Zeb's reaction.

Zeb snarled as he dropped the jugs in the water, and began to splash Kanan, Ezra was in the blast radius, and he didn't like the wet either.

Sabine and Chopper watched on as the others were getting wet, but something caught their eye in the water, something big was moving from the deeper end, right towards the others.

"Guys! There's something in the water! Get out of there!"

The others turned to see Sabine and Chopper waving, but before they had a chance to look around them, they all felt something wrap around their legs, and began to pull them into the deep.

They began to attempt to free themselves or swim back to shore as whatever grabbed them tried to pull them into the deep.

Sabine was in a panic, she struggled to find a suitable option to rescue her friends, she quickly attempted to remove her boots.

Without hesitation, Chopper went to Zeb's Bo-rifle, and turned on the staff mode, he then rolled as quickly as he could to the waterfront and raised the Bo-rifle above his body.

The crew looked on, as they knew what was going to happen next.

Chopper then thrusted the electrical end into the water, sending a jolt of electricity though the water. The others felt the surge of electricity run through them, but also felt the creature let go of their legs, when Chopper saw the creature recede to the deeper end and swim off, he lifted the Bo-rifle out.

The others managed not to pass out from the sheer power of Zeb's weapon, and make their way to shore. Hera shook her head and rubbed it with her hand. "So that's what it feels like."

Zeb growled at Chopper as he yanked his Bo-rifle away.

Kanan and Ezra were squeezing the water out of their hair. Kanan looked back into the water. "I think we lost our water jugs; we'll have to find a way to…"

His statement was interrupted by the sound of cocking of a weapon, the crew turned, and to their complete surprise, they saw a human.

He was wearing a large hat like old bounty hunters and smugglers use to wear, he looked like he was wearing a button-down shirt, a vest, a long coat, loose grey pants, and carrying a weapon that resembled a dual barrel blaster. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark green rounded glasses, but he had a smile on his face as if he knew the size of the bounty the empire had placed on their heads.

He was standing between the Ghost crew, the speeders along with the rest of their weapons. Zeb tried to raise his Bo-rifle but Kanan stopped him from doing so.

Everyone looked to Kanan to see what he would do, and to their complete shock, they saw him raise his hands above his heads.

The others, unable to comprehend how to get out of the situation, gave in to their leader's motions, and surrendered as well.

* * *

The ghost crew walked slowly through the woods, pushing their speeders, making sure not to make too quick a movement to make it look like they were trying to escape. The man walked behind them for the majority, until they saw smoke and lights from the tree line. It was a village.

The man slowly parade into the village, the crew looked up and around at the simple wooden structures, no less than two stories tall, they saw some people looking out their windows, or standing out in the street with blaster looking weapons at the ready.

They eventually reached the center of the village, where a small stage was set up, on top of the stage was a man with ginger hair, he was a little larger than most of the villagers, and he looked at them with confusion, he then turned towards the man who brought them in. "What goes Mister Harris?"

The man who escorted them brought his weapon into a rest position and began to talk to the man on the stage. "I almost had that monster, but then these here strangers decided to make themselves bait, the small metal one scared the thing off."

The man on the stage came down, he began to look at each one of the specters, examine their clothing, he looked extra close at Hera and Zeb. He then stood in front of them.

"And where do you hail from strangers?"

The crew looked at each other and then to Kanan who stepped forward.

"My name is Kanan Jarrus, this is my team, Hera, Chopper, Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra. We're from Lothal, another planet far from here, we've come looking for a man named Jon Khan, if you can tell us where he is, we won't bother you any longer."

He looked around; the entire village was confused on what he just said. The man then stood in front of Kanan. "Listen pal, I don't know where this 'Loth-al' is, or This Jon Khan you speak of. But one question will decide if we let you go on your way, or if we'll use you as bait. Do you serve the Empire?"

Kanan's heart sunk deep, he feared that the town might have already been taken over by the empire, he had to choose the right words to defuse the situation, but to his horror, Ezra spoke out.

"No, we're trying to bring down the empire, you have no idea what they will do if they come here!"

Kanan looked at the man and waited for his response. "You fight against the Empire? Do they have any weapons?"

The man named Harris came forward with all their weapons, "I found four odd looking guns, a staple gun, and this flashlight, and I swore this one looked like it threw electricity into the water." Waving the Bo-rifle in the air.

They began to examine the blasters. "I'm not sure if these are Colts', Andersen's', Heck, I think these are those brand new expensive Semi-Auto ones they made up north." He remarked about Sabine's Westar pistols.

He then turned around the Ghost crew. "But you'll be happy to know that those who are against the Empire, are a friend of ours."

They looked around and saw every man with a weapon holstered them or slung them over their shoulders, and those who hid in their homes came out to get a closer look.

Everyone was just trying to take in what the people around them were saying, but Kanan was still focused on that man, and Mister Harris.

"How long do you think before you can properly track it down again? Mister Harris."

He shook his head. "It's going to take another month or so before I find its new den…"

Kanan freed himself from the people who circled around him and joined in on the conversation. "I can't help but hear you're facing a problem with that thing that attacked us back there."

The man turned to Kanan "We are, mister Jarrus, If I recall? My name is Mason, I'm the sheriff and magistrate around here. I've believed you met Mister Harris?"

The two shook hands. "Sorry about the hot reception, Mister Jarrus, just confusion, that's all. Especial with the green and purple one"

Kanan smiled. "Apology accepted, and please, call me Kanan. That thing attacked us while we were taking a break and refilling our water supplies."

Mason shook his head. "At least you had it easy, that monster has been attacking our boats, scaring away the fish, and dragging anyone to a watery grave if they come close enough to the water, we've lost a lot of people these last few months."

Kanan looked down. "You have my condolences. Is there any way we can help you stop that creature?"

Mason raised his eyebrows. "You got any tracking skills? And a weapon stronger than those pistols."

Kanan smiled. "Oh, I got something more powerful than a blaster."

Mason looked at Kanan confused. "I'm sorry, Blaster?"

* * *

"Fire!" Yelled Mason.

His command was followed by a volley of thundering slug throwers, the sound of the shots spooked the Ghost crew, when the smoke cleared, they looked down the range to see holes in the paper the local set up.

Mister Harris walked down the range to inspect the holes made in the targets. "Not good, most of you were a few inches off. How's about we give our new friends here a go at it."

He began to set up some new paper. Hera looked at Zeb, "You want to give it a try?"

Zeb smiled as he readied his Bo-rifle. He waited for Mister Harris to finish and return to the rest of the group.

Mister Harris pat Zeb on the back. "Alright my fuzzy friend, take your shot."

Zeb raised his Bo-rife and aimed it right at the paper, he held his breath, and pulled the trigger. The red blaster bolt, followed by its signature blast emanated from the muzzle, the townspeople watched in awe as the bolt flew down range, and disintegrated the paper in fire when it impacted. The crowd was silent as they looked on as the ashes blew in the wind.

Zeb looked up from his rifle sights. "I think I hit it."

Mister Harris turned to Kanan "Where is it you said you people come from again?"

Kanan tried to find a simple way to explain it. "There are other planets out there, some are super far away, like the one we come from, called Lothal. We have a starship further back in the interior. We came looking for a friend of ours before the Empire reached him first."

Mister Harris looked confused. "Why would ol' Emperor Augustus want with your friend?"

Kanan was puzzled by the statement, he took a moment to think. "I think we're talking about two different empires here. The empire we fight against is the Galactic Empire, they got millions of stormtroopers and countless ships, they invade worlds like these and take all they can for their emperor, Palpatine."

Mister Harris raised an eyebrow from behind his glasses. "Oh? Our enemy empire is a tad different, but as for your empire it seems to have the similar idea of size, there looks to be no end to his boys in red, his tanks, his airplanes, his warships, he wants to keep marching east to pacify the islands, then us here. They're led by that Augustus character."

Kanan took a sigh of relief. "I was almost afraid that our empire was here before us, you can't really find a lot of nature from the planets we come from."

Kanan and Mister Harris looked at the sun go down over the river, and just stood there for a bit. Mister Harris broke the silence. "It's getting late, I'll take your folks to a place you can stay, we'll start in the morning."

The two walked to the rest of the crew, to wait off the night with rest after a crazy evening.

* * *

The morning came, the crew were sleeping on a cabin floor, wrapped up in their sleeping bags, it was calm and quiet, then all of a sudden, there was the yell of what sounded like a great and terrible monster. "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!"

The Crew members shot up in shock from the sound of the creature, it took a moment for them to realize it was one of the weird looking birds outside the cabin, they soon began to scan the room around them, but soon, all eyes were transfixed to Sabine, and what she had clutched in her arms.

She began to notice everyone was staring at her, and her handmade stuffed Madalorian Warrior doll. She began to blush fiery red. "I-I can explain!"

Before anyone could crack a joke or even question Sabine about the doll, Mason burst through the door. "TOP O' THE MORNING LADS!"

The others turned to Mason; Ezra rubbed his eyes. "Can we wait five more minutes?"

Mason came towards Ezra and passed his clothes to him. "Mister Harris can't wait that long, or he'll lose the trail"

The crew began to get ready but looked to Sabine to see her put the doll into the box she always takes out to take to her tent in private every night.

Zeb nudged Ezra. "I bet you an entire box a space waffles when we get back if you can get Sabine to have a tea party with you, your loth-cat toy, and her doll."

Sabine yelled out from across the cabin, tossing her sleeping bag at Zeb. "I heard that!"

* * *

They walked out to where two rows of men standing by the docks, they filed in and stood in the line. Mister Harris came out of a small river boat in the docks.

He looked at the group and tipped his hat. "Alright, we know where it was last time, if we can find its tracks, we can find its den, if we find its den, we'll find it."

He took out his pistol and spun the cylinder that held the shots and began to walk towards the main gate of the village, everyone began to follow behind.

They came across the place where the Ghost Crew was attacked, they found that the jugs they were carrying with them were still in the river. Mister Harris went over to them and began to inspect the jugs.

Sabine and Kanan waited at the furthest edge near the riverbank. Kanan turned to Sabine. "Did you get a good look at what could have attacked us?"

Sabine shook her head. "It moved too fast, but we know it has multiple limbs or tentacles that grabbed the others."

Kanan pondered. "Do you think it could be a Dianoga?"

Sabine looked towards the water. "Well, it looks like it's deep enough to hide one, but I thought Dianoga's survived in swamps and muck, not fresh water."

Kanan scratched the hair on his chin. "It could be evolved."

Before the conversation could continue, Mister Harris shouted to the others. "I've picked up its trail."

He began to wade through the water, the others followed behind, While Kanan, Sabine, and Chopper followed along from the riverbank.

* * *

They walked further down the river; everyone was following Mister Harris till he abruptly stopped near a small growth in the middle of the river.

He attempted to clear some moss and branches, but Ezra slipped his way into the middle of them. "Don't worry, I got this."

Without warning, Ezra pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited his blade, Mister Harris took of his glasses to see if he was not seeing the glare of the sun, the rest of the men stood in awe as Ezra sliced the fauna clean in half without resistance, and revealing a small cave.

Mister Harris took the lead again, he pointed his gun all around the cave, everyone was cautious as they entered, the cave was dark, cold, and in the part that raised above the water, was a pile of bones.

Hera headed for the dryer part to look at the bones, she saw that they were completely dry. "Well, it looks like this is where it has lunch."

Mister Harris walked onto the dry part where Hera was and leaned down to feel around. "It looks like it left early, but judging by these bones, it usually eats around two, and eleven."

Zeb's ears lowered. "So what time is it now?"

Mister Harris reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a round dish on a chain, he then clicked a button as it opened up, he looked at two pointers on the device. And turned to Zeb. "it's about One Fifty-Four. It will be back in about six Minutes. Everyone, get on this dry part and form a firing line here."

The men formed the two rows, the first line facing the cave entrance got down on their knees, while the second remained standing, both lines aimed their slug throwers at the entrance.

Kanan, Sabine, and Chopper waited near the outside, when all of a sudden, they heard the squealing of what sounded like a puffer pig. They hid in the bushes on the bank and saw a pink puffer pig looking creature being dragged in the river, with a tentacle wrapped around it.

The three had the stark realization that they might be unprepared to face a Dianoga, they scrambled for their commlinks, Kanan frantically tried to alert Hera. "Hera, get everyone out of there, it's a Dianoga!"

Hera gasped, she looked to the entrance of the cave to see its eye and the main body slowly surfaced inside the cave, before she could alert the others, Mister Harris gave the order. "Fire!"

The sudden sound of thundering from the local's weapons echoed across the cave, and the Dianoga screeched as some of the slugs found their mark. The Dianoga dropped the creature it was about to feast on and began to crawl its way towards the clearing.

Mister Harris looked as more of the creature began to move onto the dry part of the cave. "Reload!"

The men began to pull back and cycle the rounds with the bolt attached to their weapons, and without further order, they began to fire. The Dianoga kept taking round after round, until it got a hold of the leg of one of the men and tossed him to one of the walls, the firing line broke and everyone began to gain distance while still firing.

Ezra ignited his lightsaber and started to charge for the Dianoga but was stopped when its eye looked right at him, Ezra froze in his tracks, and felt one of its tentacles wrap around his feet. The Dianoga began tossing him around the room, knocking over some of men who attempted to get a clear shot.

Zeb carefully aimed his Bo-rifle. "Hold still kid!"

Ezra saw Zeb aiming towards him. "Zeb, no, no, no!"

Zeb pulled the trigger, Ezra closed his eyes as the bolt came closer, but he felt the heat slowly pass by his upper torso, the bolt traveled into one of the arms of the Dianoga. The creature let out a great and terrible roar as it dropped Ezra into the shallow water.

Ezra quickly reignited his lightsaber and stabbed the Dianoga. But one of its arms came and hit Ezra, tossing him into the wall.

Hera looked to Zeb, "It's in the water, do what chopper did!"

Zeb started to grin as he turned his rifle into its staff form. "Everyone out of the water!"

The men began to fall back onto the dry portion of the cave, Zeb ran straight at the Dianoga and tackled it. He began to push it further into the water.

The creature tried to struggle, but Zeb got his grip on his rifle, and plunged it into the water.

Kanan, Chopper, and Sabine saw the purple light emanate from the cave, as they heard two monstrous screams. Kanan got on the commlink. "Hera, what's going on in there?"

There was nothing but silence on the other end.

In the cave, Hera went to Zeb, being mindful of the now smoking Dianoga. Mister Harris was not taking any chances and unloaded his six-shot weapon into the lifeless body of the Dianoga. "Okay, now It's dead."

Hera shook Zeb forward and backwards "Come on Zeb, wake up!"

Zeb grunted quietly and opened his eyes. "Hera?"

Hera smiled, as Zeb finished his sentence. "I never knew those things smelt so good when fried."

Hera began to giggle, and she helped Zeb get back on his feet.

* * *

They arrived back in town, carrying the Dianoga for all the townspeople to see, everyone began to stare and cheer of the falling of the beast.

Mason shook Kanan's hand. "You and your friends did mighty fine taking care of that creature, thanks to you guys, this town has nothing to worry about."

Kanan smiled. "It's our duty to help those in need."

Mason looked at the crew and back to Kanan. "Is there anything our community can do for you, you said you were traveling west?"

Kanan nodded his head, Mister Harris pointed towards the docks. "One of the captains there is about to depart for Newport soon. I can convince him to take you along with him, it will be a whole lot faster on boat then on foot."

Kanan looked towards the docks and grinned. "That's very kind of you Mason, we'll take you up on that offer."

* * *

Kanan and Zeb finished loading the supplies and speeder bikes onto the boat, but the others we're held up by Sabine blocking the boarding ramp.

Sabine looked down into the water and turned to Hera behind her. "I'm not going!"

Hera scowled at Sabine and started to drag her by the ear. "Hey, Hera! OWCH!"

Ezra and Chopper then boarded, the captain loosed the boat from the dock and began to set the boat off towards the west.

Ezra turned to Zeb. "Hey Zeb, I just want to thank you for saving me back there."

Zeb chuckled and grinned. "Guess you owe me one again." He elbowed Ezra and the two just started chucking, as the boat continued further into the interior of the land. 

* * *

**Going on a hiatus for a bit, Going to Disney World, the Story should pick up in 4 weeks, but there might be a Adventures In Rebellion story coming soon to make up for it. Have a great day!**


	6. Book 1 Chapter 6

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 6: Magic and the Force

* * *

The small boat steamed up the river, passing smaller paddle boats along the way, below the deck, Ezra and Kanan were meditating, Hera was making minor repairs to Chopper, Zeb and Sabine were above deck.

Ezra and Kanan were doing their best to focus with the water skimming across the wooden hull, and the racket from the pistons of the steam engine.

Kanan grunted and opened his eyes. "I don't think we can really focus in this environment."

Hera patted Kanan on the back. "Well, the force can't solve all our problems, it's a big planet, and with as many people as we seen there could be more across the planet."

Ezra stood up and wiped the dust off his jumpsuit legs. "We've tried reaching out to see if we can find him or his surroundings, but I guess we're not focusing hard enough."

Ezra began to walk out onto the main deck of the ship. Kanan was about to join him, but Hera stepped into path. She looked into Kanan's eyes, full of concerns.

Kanan tried to look away from Hera's gaze. "I know I have a strong connection to Master Khan; I don't know why I can sense or reach out to him."

Hera put her hand on Kanan's cheek and turned his head back into her gaze. "Well, how about to tell me all about Master Khan, and try making the connection again."

Kanan smiled at Hera, as they both sat back down for Kanan to recount his friendship with the Jedi Master.

Ezra saw Sabine clinging closely to the center mast of the boat, with an orange floatation device tied around her, while Zeb was just laying on the deck, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine.

Ezra smirked at Sabine. "You know, the waters are calm, and I think we know this captain knows how to sail around here."

Sabine looked up at Ezra. "I can believe that, but I can't trust the water. When I was in the academy, we had to run drills in the water. Some of the other cadets were jealous or angry at my work, they tried to cut my air supply or keep me underwater. I nearly drowned on multiple occasions."

Ezra whipped the smirk off his face as quickly as he could. "I… I'm sorry Sabine."

Sabine turned her eyes away from Ezra. "It's okay, you had nothing to do with the memory."

Ezra walked towards Zeb, often glancing back at Sabine. He laid down, right next to Zeb and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

Zeb, without looking at Ezra, spoke. "I never knew there can be this much peace and quiet anywhere."

Ezra didn't say a word, he just stared up at the clouds in the sky and the birds flying through the air. He eventually turned his eyes to the riverbanks, they have left the more forested area they were previously, and now they were in a mild plain of tall grass, farmhouses, and orchards.

Ezra was beginning to draw almost every thought of what Lothal was before the Empire took over and began tearing it apart. Only for his daydream to be interrupted by the whistle of a passing steamboat.

He and Zeb looked up to see a large three-story boat, with a giant wheel in the back, paddling it down river towards the direction they came.

Ezra and Zeb stood up to look to where that boat came from, only to be completely caught off guard by a mass of manmade structures of wood, brick, and metal reaching the sky.

"Kanan, Hera, you guys got to see this."

The two adults and Chopper surfaced from the lower decks and transfixed their eyes towards the front of the boat.

Kanan blinked and whipped his eyes to make sure he was not imagining it. "It's a city."

Sabine eventually made her way closer to the others, clenching to the handrail the whole way. "It looks like this could be a financial center, you got farms nearby, fishing, and transportation, usually the basis of a primitive society."

The others hadn't noticed Zeb was looking upwards above them till he notified them. "Uh, so do societies become un-primitive when they build flying machines?"

The others were confused at first, till they looked up. Above them was a large cylinder shape, with a metallic humming as it flew overhead. Several smaller lighter craft with two pairs of wings flew next to it.

Hera began to giggle. "I'm starting to like this place already."

* * *

It was not long for the boat to pull into port and dock, before the others could depart and unload, Sabine bolted onto the concrete dock. "Ah, land sweet land."

She began to remove the floatation device hugging her as the others began to unload their supplies from the boat. While lowering one of the speeder bikes, Ezra looked to Kanan. "So, where do we start now?"

Kanan's face sunk low. "Well, we are going to have to find a quiet place to meditate, try to reach out again with the force. This planet is getting bigger the further out we go, he could be hundreds of click away and we could miss him."

Ezra shrugged. "Well, it never hurts to try, let's go find a quiet place."

Kanan began to push the bike but suddenly came to a calm stop, he began to look around, he felt as though something, or someone was calling to him.

Eventually he felt Chopper poking at him. "Alright, I'm moving."

They began to walk though the town, they looked all around them as all eyes were focused on them.

In one of the nearby stores, a man turned to the cashier. "Do we call the sheriff, or animal control?"

The cashier only shrugged; he began turning the dial on his communication device hung on the wall. "Get me the authorities."

The crew continue to walk down the street, they noticed some of the citizens started to emerge from the buildings with weapons, the rebels began to feel uneasy, except for Kanan as he felt as he should walk into a nearby store.

He motioned towards the others. "Guys, follow me." The others did not hesitate to follow him inside the building, as they entered, the door hit a bell, causing it to ring. From the back, they heard a woman call out. "I'll just be a moment."

They looked out the window, they saw what looked like a mob was assembling outside, with farming tools and guns in their hands.

Before they could consider options, they heard the rattle of beads behind them. The saw two women dressed in dark robes, they had brown shoulder bags strapped around them, the older one carried a large staff, while the younger one was wearing glasses.

The older one spoke first, almost unmoved by their appearance, especially with Hera and Zeb. "Good morning, how can we help you?"

Before someone could say something, she looked over their shoulders and through the window, to see the mob that assembled outside.

The woman's smile disappeared; she began to make her way towards the door. "Pardon me just one moment. Amy, get some drinks for our guests here. I'll deal with the townsfolks again."

The rebels looked as she went out of the shop, in front of the mob. She reached into her satchel and grabbed a handful of blue dust.

Sabine looked perplexed. "What is she doing?"

Soon, the woman threw the dust in the air over the cloud, she then raised her staff as it began to glow. Within that moment, Ezra and Kanan felt a strong pull of power, the force.

The woman spoke with a strong voice. "You will go to your homes and forgot what you have saw."

Ezra and Kanan realized, she has a connection to the force.

One by one the citizens began to walk away, others stood on the street, question why they were standing around with guns and pitchforks.

The woman walked back into the shop and brushed off the residue with her hands, back into the bag. "Forgive me for that, my name is Lavina, and this is my apprentice Amy."

The others turned to see the younger woman with a tray of small cups with a brown fizzy liquid inside. Amy raised her hand to wave it "Hello, how are you…"

Suddenly, the tray slipped out of her hands, and the cups began to fall towards the floor, everyone's instant reaction was to try to grab them before they hit the floor. But suddenly, the cups began to float in the air. Hera turned to Kanan and Ezra to see if they were doing it. But once she saw that they were only watching, she saw that it was Amy who caught it in midair, suspending them with nothing.

Emily shily giggle. "Sorry, go ahead, take one, I can't hold them for long."

The crew began to grab the cups suspended in air, Kanan looked towards the two women. "Are you two Jedi?"

The two women looked confused. Lavina spoke first still puzzled. "I don't know what a Jedi is, we are wizards."

Kanan drank from his cup, and once it was empty, he dropped the cup too the floor, only to lift it with the force. "But you know of the force?"

The two wizards looked on as he raised it higher and eventually towards a waste bin, dropping it in.

Lavina looked at Kanan. "It seems you also have the gift and have received training."

Ezra stepped forward. "Is this gift the Force?"

Lavina knelt down to Ezra. "We call it the gift; it was a power from the Three Gods given to us to help the ones who don't have it."

Ezra tried to give Lavina a breakdown of the Force. "Well, we have this gift two, we call it the force, its apart of all living things, and we use it to lift objects with our minds, and we help people."

Lavina stood back up and looked at the entire crew. "Where are you all from?"

Zeb slowly and awkwardly said. "Uh… Space."

She leaned in closer. "Why are you here then?"

Hera crossed her arms. "We're looking for another one of our friends who also uses the force, you wouldn't have happened to know him, a Jon Khan?"

Lavina scratched her chin. "The name is not familiar to me, but it looks like you're trying to find one person out of a population of over a few hundred billion. Perhaps we can offer our services?"

The crew looked at each other and got into a huddle, Zeb spoke first. "I never understood this whole force thing, and now we're being fed a second version of it."

Ezra raised his eyebrow at Zeb, "Hey, it's helped us before, I don't see how it couldn't help us again."

Sabine scratched her chin. "Well, when I was at the academy, they taught us a bit on magic, it's not necessarily the safest method or the most practical. Never the less if it was mingled with the force or anything."

Kanan looked at Sabine. "Those were Sith and the Night Sisters they talked about, mixed it with practices of the Jedi. Just look at them, they don't look like they use the dark side."

Hera nudged in. "She did say there were over a hundred billion people on this planet, so it can defiantly narrow the search."

Chopper started shaking up and down and chipped in compliance.

Hera broke the circle "Its settled, four too two." She turned to Lavina and Amy; "We'll take your offer."

Lavina smiled "Excellent, we just need a few key ingredients." She pulled one of the books off the shelf and began to scroll to the pages. "Here it is, a seeker spell, it will need a compass, a shadow moth, and something he is in, like a photograph or a personal item that belonged to him."

Hera nodded and turned to Sabine and Zeb. "You two go find the two items; we'll wait here and assist them."

Lavina stopped the two before they can exit. "Wait, this is for your big guy."

Zeb turned around, only to be enveloped in a bright pink cloud of dust, Lavina lifted her staff as it began to glow. She then shouted, "Power of The Son and shadow and illusion, bring this illusion to life!"

The dust then cleared, Zeb saw that everyone was looking at him, he turned to a nearby mirror on display, he saw a big muscular human man with purple hair, standing exactly where he was.

"What did you do to me!" Zeb shouted, as he began to rub his arms, thinking it would come off.

Amy giggled. "Don't worry, it's a disguise spell, it washes off, but that will keep another mob from trying to attack you guys. You might need money as well."

Amy handed Sabine a small bag, filled with red paper, with the image of an elderly king on the front, and a grand city on the back.

Lavina opened the door. "You should find the market just next to the harbor."

* * *

Sabine began to walk out of the building, but she noticed Zeb was not following her, she leaned in and began to drag him out and he kept staring at himself in the mirror, feeling his face.

The two walked down the street. "I didn't ask for all this force magic shenanigans." Zeb said.

Sabine looked to Zeb. "I know how you feel, they got a long history, but to be tossed right into it is just confusing. I'm a Mandalorian, how am I supposed to know about this force sorcery stuff?"

Zeb looked as some civilians passed him, looking at him awkwardly. "Uh, did the spell wash off in some parts?"

Sabine quickly examined Zeb up and down, "I don't see any…"

"HEY!", the two specters turned around, to see a man dressed in a dark three-piece suit, a brown belt with a holster and silver six shot gun. And on the upper portion of his outer jacket, a silver badge.

Sabine and Zeb turned slowly. Zeb chuckled; "Is there something wrong, sir?"

The man looked at Zeb. "What's with the purple hair?"

Sabine stepped in. "Uh, I dyed it for him."

The man looked confused. "So, your trendsetter from up north, that may also explain your dress, no clue they're going for a tight fit fashion now. Cary on."

The two continued towards the market. Vendors were selling all sorts of items, even trying to push sales. One came right up to Zeb. "Pardon me sir, would you care to by my new revolutionary elixir, makes your skin as smooth as the day you were born."

Zeb politely declined and kept walking. A saleswoman came up with tiny cups of fizzing liquids. "Free sample of our new cherry soft drink?"

Sabine and Zeb just shrugged and downed the liquid. Before they could get much further, a young man stopped Sabine. "Young lady, it seems to me you know a lot about firearms, I got an offer for this revolver, caliber point four five, normally one hundred and forty Crowns, but I'll sell it to you for ninety."

Sabine was temped, she took the pistol from his hand and started spinning and twirling it around in her hand. "Thanks, but I think I'll hold off on your offer."

She handed the pistol back to the young man, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted a stand that sold maps, telescopes, and compass', she quickly turned to Zeb "There, that's the place."

They approached an old man sitting behind the desk under the tent, he looked up at Zeb towering above him. "Can I help you lad?"

Zeb looked at the array of compass' on the table. "What is the best but cheapest you got?"

The man grabbed a brass compass from the Table. "This one is about five Crowns, she just points, nothing really special."

Zeb reached into the bag and pulled out five of the red pieces of paper. "We'll take it."

The man took the money and put it in a smaller box and handed the compass to Zeb. Sabine looked at the old man, "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a shadow moth?"

The old man stared at Sabine and smiled. "Did Lavina send you this way?"

The two rebels looked surprised as the old man continued. "She always sends people to me who are looking for long lost friends and potential soul mates, her magic works real wonders yakow."

Sabine and Zeb were still skeptical as the man rose from his chair. "But with magic you see, especially with the Shadow Moth, you got to go into the bayous, There the old splinter group practiced the darker side of magic before they were expelled."

The old man started to sit back down. "Something tells me you don't really believe in all this magic religious stuff, trust me, if you want to catch a shadow moth, you got to be a believer."

Zeb and Sabine slowly backed up from the man and dashed towards the shop.

* * *

Lavina was holding the picture Kanan had of Master Khan. "I assure you; I won't damage the image."

Kanan gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, it means a lot to still have that."

Sabine and Zeb then came through the door, with a compass in their hand and worry on their expressions.

Lavina spoke with a bit of confusion. "You're back so early, did you get the items?"

Zeb put the compass on the table. "We got this, but you're going to get the shadow moth yourself."

Lavina crossed her arms. "Is something wrong?"

Sabine commented. "We don't really have a full understanding of this force magic thing you guys keep talking about, and we feel it's better if you or Ezra and Kanan go into find it."

The others looked to Lavina. She looked at others and began to speak. "It's not a safe place for those who have the gift, or the force as you so call it."

The others began to lean in as she continues. "We draw our magic from three divine beings, The Father, The Daughter, and The Son. Their power contributes to our magic, the Son uses darkness for illusions and power, the Daughter uses light for clarity and sight, the Father keeps all things in balance. But there was one group who splintered off, who worshiped a far darker being. They use to be established in the bayou, They've since been driven out by the efforts of the wizards and the military, but some wizards say their evil power still dwells, driving some wizards to insanity, but regular people are able to pass with only minor experience."

Zeb's eyes widen. "So, Jedi cannot go in there, but we can? And a minor experience?"

Lavina nodded. "In order to gain what you seek; you must enter the elder tree there and face darkness."

Sabine and Zeb looked at the others, they saw a bit of shameful begging from Ezra, an assure sign of confidence from Kanan, and approval from Hera, they sucked in their suspicion and gave in. "Alright, we'll do it." Sabine said.

* * *

The two waded their way through the marshy waters, darkness was contrasted by the thick canopy above. Zeb blurted out "This is the worst plan."

Sabine elbowed Zeb in the chest. "I'm still skeptical as well about this force stuff, we should be just fine."

The two continued to walk forward until they came to a clearing, and in the center was a great tree, with a hole in its base. The two slowly approached, staring in awe at the tree.

Before they got any closer, Zeb bumped into something, a wooden sign, he stood back and looked at it, the words were not easy to make out. "Sabine, do you think you can interpret this?"

Sabine began to look at the sign. "I can try." She began to compare it with words they had already translated and saw along the way, she took a moment to let the device on her wrist to its matching, and then it got the results. "It says, Danger! Evil lives here."  
Zeb chuckled and reached for his bo-rifle. "We're not going to let a sign tell us what to fear."

Sabine pulled out one of her blasters and a flashlight and the two began to walk into the shell of the tree.

The two felt a sudden drop in temperature, the room also seem to have been bigger on the inside, and they began to walk the rough path, deeper and deeper.

Zeb all of a sudden took a deep sniff. "Do you smell that?"

Sabine began to smell the sent Zeb was talking about. "Carbon scouring? The locals don't have blasters."

They began to approach the source of the smell, they reached the point where the odor surrounded them, then in a split second, Sabines light turned off.

Zeb began to panic a little, "Sabine this is not the place for a prank!"

Zeb heard Sabines voice. "I'm not joking Zeb, my light must have malfunctioned, but don't worry, I may have it fixed…"

Suddenly, the room filled with a bright yellow light, in the form of a long blade produced from what was once the flashlight.

Zeb and Sabine stared at the light, and then realized their attire had also been change from their usual combat clothes to lose fit robes, Zeb also saw that the potion that hid his true look had been undone. Before they could start guessing what was going on, they saw their surroundings had change to an Alderaanian ship, its halls burnt and wrecked, and bodies of Stormtroopers and Rebellion volunteers laying on the ground.

Zeb began to panic more. "I don't like this at all, maybe we should turn and…"

He turned around and saw no door behind them. Suddenly, at the other end of the hallway, an opening appeared. The two glanced at each other and began to walk towards the opening. When they came through to the other side, they were in complete shock and horror, to see Hera, Kanan, and Ezra, fallen on the ground, wounded. The group looked to Sabine and Zeb. "Jedi? We are saved! Please, help up!"

They began to limp and crawl towards their friends. Sabine and Zeb felt completely bewildered of what they were witnessing. Zeb blurted out. "But we aren't Jedi, you guys are."

The kept calling out for help, ignoring Zeb's words, they began to grab onto their clothes and almost pull them down into the floor.

The two began to panic as they were pulled though the floor, when their heads were submerged, it was all darkness, then light. The sky was dark grey, the sounds of the local population guns filled their air, large metal shells whistled through the air, as machines crossed over a trench they were in, the screaming of wounded men and women overshadowed some of the passing shots.

"The Jedi are here!" a voice cried out, as it was followed by a mighty cheer. A man in a dark blue uniform approached the two. "Master Jedi, we need your help, demolish their machine guns, and lead our troops to victory!"

Zeb and Sabine did not hesitate, they jumped out of the trench and ignited their lightsabers. "Charge!" yelled the commander. People in dark blue uniforms began to ascend from the trench and ran directly straight. Sabine and Zeb, we are at the front, somehow using the lightsabers, and strangely the force to re-direct incoming projectiles.

They crested into the enemy trench Zeb found a man, wearing a red uniform, he quickly used his lightsaber to disarm him, the man in red got on his knees. "Please, have mercy on me!"

Zeb froze, he looked at Sabine who was looking at Zeb, he saw all the men in blue engaged in hand to hand combat, and then back at the man in red.

Zeb de-ignited his lightsaber. "I'm not a Jedi, but I agree in their ways."

The man in red got up and began to run away. Suddenly one of the women in blue called out. "Here comes the stormtroopers!" Zeb and Sabine looked over the trench to see lines of stormtroopers approaching and firing. The two jumped out and began to attack the stormtroopers. Showing no mercy to the bucket heads. Zeb and Sabine tagged on the last one, and cut of his arms, the stormtrooper fell to the ground. But all of a sudden, his helmet fell off, he was the same man in red they had just spared.

The two looked in utter shock. "You spared me before when you knew who I was, why did you not spare me now?" the man said.

Before they can reason with themselves what they had done, the screaming of a shell approached them, growing ever louder as it impacted the floor in front of them. Showing dark mud all around.

When the explosion settled, they found themselves in Lothal, they checked their attire, and saw that they were back in their normal clothes, and weapons had been restored.

Kanan and Ezra were standing right Infront of them. Kanan looked at the confusion on their faces. "Is everything alright?"

Sabine regained her confidence and looked at both of them. "They use to say the Jedi were keepers of a peace, turned into warriors for the Clone Wars, but it has altered us to think they were only warriors, we expect too much of you guys, but we don't have enough understanding for the things you do."

Zeb begin to add. "It's not easy being a Jedi, there are choices you guys could make that will determine if you stay as a Jedi or find yourself turning into an inquisitor. I guess we're sorry for all the troubles we gave you."

Ezra Smiled. "These are the first steps to understanding the force, is to understand our duty for us and the people around us."

Slowly light began to fill the scene, and everything turned to white. Zeb and Sabine found themselves back in the tree, laying on their backs, it was a lot warmer, but Zeb felt something crawling on his arm, he slowly turned his head and saw a Shadow Moth. Sabine reached for a container and her belt, and quickly put it over the moth and sealed it.

Zeb looked at Sabine. "I guess we really got to listen in when Ezra's taking those lessons."

Sabine chuckled. "I guess we really do, let's go."

* * *

Morning came, Sabine and Zeb were trying to recount all they had saw in the tree. Kanan was listening closely. "That does sound like something Ezra and I experienced in the Jedi Temple in Lothal, the force can reveal knowledge and secrets it wants know."

Sabine looked away and added. "If it wanted us to know, what about the part where we saw local soldiers engage with stormtroopers?"

Kanan looked confused. "The force sometimes does not share things in complete clarity, it will be a hurdle we have to cross when we get to it."

Lavina and Amy we are beginning to put the enchantment on the Compass. "Power of the Daughter of Light and Truth, let your grace chart the correct path!"

The compass was enveloped with a bright light, when the light clear, the compass no longer pointed north. Amy handed the compass and the picture back to Kanan. "This compass will now lead you to your friend the more radicle it will turn, the closer you are to him."

Kanan looked at the photo again before putting it back in his pocket. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

Lavina smiled. "This is a service to…"

Sabine and Zeb finished her sentence. "To helped those in need."

Amy giggled. "You two might make good wizards"

Kanan added. "Or Jedi."

The two smiled as the crew began to shake hands with the Wizard and her apprentice.

They began to make their way out of town, following the compass as it pointed west.

Ezra was talking with Sabine and Zeb still. "So, you two we're jedi?"

Zeb responded "Yeah, it was like one of the strangest things. If this is what you guys see when you run off to practice every time, count me out. But we'll listen in on your other trainings."

The three laughed as they continued down the road, off to their next destination.

Meanwhile, high above the planet in orbit, a large grey object came out of lightspeed.

"Agent Kallus, we're here."


	7. Book 1 Chapter 7

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 7: Tale of Two Empires

* * *

The humming of ion engines filled the empty soundscape of the grasslands. The beige grass below soon turned shades darker as a large triangular shadow overcasted the sun.

"Status report!" barked an officer.

One of the lower ranked technicians glanced at his screen and back at the officer. "This planet has a rich biosphere, oxygen is breathable to the common species, including us. It looks like there is no signs of intelligent life yet, but this is a relatively good area to allow the start a foothold camp."

The officer looked out the viewport of the Star Destroyer. "Very well, alert all personnel that will disembark to the planet surface to gather in the hanger."

The technician nodded and began to speak over the Star Destroyers intercom.

Stormtroopers, officers, and droids were dashing down the halls. The Klaxon blared all around, two of the individuals caught in the sudden traffic were Minister Maketh Tua, and Agent Kallus.

Tua's eyes glanced across multiple data pads in both of her hands. "Are you sure all my effects are accounted for?"

Agent Kallus rolled his eyes. "Yes Minister, I assure you there won't be a single crate left onboard when we depart."

"And the cadets?" she asked.

Kallus turned his eyes towards the Minister. "They should be gathering their personal belongings now. But Minister, you still haven't reveled to us why you thought it would be a good idea to bring these children on such an expedition?"

Tua gave a single chuckle. "As I told you before, it is classified by the Emperor himself."

Kallus raised his brow and spoke cautiously. "The Emperor, trusted you with an assignment that can't be shared with anyone, not even your second in command."

Tua grunted. "You know, if you want to worry so much about the cadets, why don't you go make sure they're ready."

Kallus just shrugged and turned down the corridor towards the barracks.

When he reached the rooms set aside for the cadets, he looked on in displeasure and shock, never before in his career as an agent for the Empire, has he seen such a mess inside Imperial Barracks.

One of the Cadets, trying to close his portable locker turned and saw a bewildered Agent Kallus standing in the doorway, he quickly turned around and put his hands at his sides and squeaked "Attention!"

The other cadets all turned their attention towards the doorway, and quickly scrambled to their respected positions, stepping over laundry, sheets, and personal items approved to carry in Imperial service.

Kallus eyeballed every Cadet in the room. "What is going on in here, who is the senior cadet here?"

"I am." Called out a quiet yet respectful voice.

Kallus looked, he saw a young girl, she had an almost blue hair like the young rebel of the Ghost Crew, she looked at Kallus straight in the eye, with a kind smile on her face. "Cadet Reann Tomvig, sir."

Kallus walked up to Reann, her eyes trying to adjust to the height of the approaching Agent as he towered over her. Kallus tilted his head over the young girl. "What is the meaning of this disorder?"

Reann stuttered a little. "Th-This is most our first transfer; we haven't gotten use to packing and unpacking yet."

Kallus stared looking at the other cadets, some of them quickly turning their heads to face forward. Reann continued in a soft voice. "I'll make sure we are ready within the next few minutes, sir."

Agent Kallus turned around and looked at all the other cadets. "Get started then."

The room was suddenly alive with movement as the cadets reached for their belongings and tried to shove them into their bags. Kallus looked around and nodded his head, as he began to walk towards the door he asked; "Cadet Reann, Is this your first time as Senior Cadet?"

Reann looked up for her case and addressed Kallus. "Y-Yes, it is, sir."

Kallus twisted his body around and smiled. "I remember when I was a Senior Cadet long ago, you'll get use it."

He walked out the automatic door, when they closed, Reann took a sigh of relief, and then returned to packing her belongings.

* * *

The Destroyer Captain looked on as the final group of troopers lined up in front of him in the hanger. He turned to Minister Tua, who simply nodded. He approached the front of a makeshift stage and began to speak. "Brave men and women of the Empire, you have been selected for this special mission in uncharted space, to bring glory to the name of the Emperor. There are one thousand here today, Stormtroopers, engineers, scientists, and cadets. My orders were to escort you here and see to it that you were escorted safely to the planet's surface, unfortunately my duties will lie elsewhere in the galaxy, and you will be without the support of my ship. The next vessel to come with bring additional men and supplies, it will take another month to get here. I cannot guarantee your success, but I have full confidence and a belief in the Emperor's wishes that you will become legends in the archives of history."

All the personnel in front of the podium gave a salute, cheers broke out, "Glory to the Empire!" one shouted.

Minister Tua took the stage, and commanded; "To the landing craft!"

The shuttles soon departed from the lower hanger of the Star Destroyer and made their way to the grassy surface below. The shuttles lowered their gear, and touched the soil, the front ramps open, Minister Tua gave specific instructions she and the Cadets were to be the first ones off the shuttle. Agent Kallus leaned his head down to get a glimpse of what was happening, and he noticed something, an Imperial Cam Droid from the Ministry of Information.

He continued to look on as the Cadets started to plant a small Imperial flag on the grasslands, once the red light on the droid turned off, Tua turned to the shuttles and shouted. "Alright, you may all come out now and get to work!"

Stormtroopers carrying spades, crates, and other supplies off the shuttle, bobbing themselves out of the way of Agent Kallus as he slowly walked towards Minister Tua who was reviewing the footage with the droid.

I take it your secret is that this Jedi hunt has become a colonization and a publicity stunt?

Tua acknowledged Agent Kallus without moving her eyes off the footage. "It was the Holonet News' idea, they want to put out a new advertisement for the next semesters. They really wanted to show how good the Academy programs can be."

Agent Kallus turned to find the cadets, his eyes locked onto them, they were digging the foundations for one the barracks they were going to build in the area.

He turned back to Minister Tua. "If you do not mind my opinion, it's not wise to bring a group of children on a mission to capture a Jedi."

Tua chuckled and turned to Kallus. "It's better to be dealing with a Jedi hunt with children then facing worse punishment back on Lothal, besides, this view looks just like home."

Kallus smirked and began to walk to assist in the unloading of the shuttles. Suddenly, he felt something catch his boot, he sharply stopped and looked down at what could have tripped him. Through the tall grass, he saw a medium size white cage, he took one sniff and realized there was a rotting smell.

Kallus shouted; "I need an anthropologist over here!"

* * *

The ribcage was under a portable scanner, the group of scientists, were looking at the data pads and results were feeding in. The cadets gathered around under the temporary shelter.

"What do you think that creature was?" whispered one Cadet

One of them shrugged. "I bet you it like one of those Loth-Cats"

"It can't be, loth-cats are small, look at the size of that rib cage." One of them blurted out.

Suddenly one of the scientists turned to Kallus, the cadets began to shush each other as the scientist read the results. "Agent Kallus, This appears to be from a large herbivore creature, about the size of a Nerf, no larger than a Bantha, but what the machine caught are these bite marks left on the bones, they are clean penetration, from what could be a fast moving projectile. We are picking up traces of an unknown alloy combination left behind on the marks, but we are still uncertain. We'll need more time to examine everything."

Kallus peaked over his shoulders at the ease dropping cadets, he turned back to the scientists. "Perhaps you can put the cadets to work."

The cadet's eyes widen as they began to stand at attention. Reann stood in front of the small formation. The scientist approaches the cadets and knelt down in front of Reann. "There is a source of water nearby, if you and the others can get scans of the water, sediment, and any possible lifeforms there it will help our work move along faster."

Reann gave a sharp salute and turned to the others to break down the plan of action.

The cadets marched down to the river, with a small trooper escort. They began to stick small probes into the soil and water, taking samples of the fauna, and trying their best to make light of their predicament. Splashing water on each other, or trying to spook some the younger Cadets and they traversed the small grove of trees. Reann tried her best to make sure the others were behaving. "Cadet Alton, stop using the foliage as a weapon!" she demanded.

The cadet dropped a stick in his hand and just crossed his eyes at Reann before trotting to the riverbank. Reann followed behind, where she was in horror to see some of the cadets in just their undergarments, jumping into the water. "At least here we can have aquatic activities." Laughed one cadet.

Reann fumed red and shouted. "Will you all get your act together, we are members of the empire, and we have to be on our best behave—Aiiee!"

Her statement turned to panic as she felt four hands shove her from behind, as she fell face forward into the cold water, still in full uniform. She surfaced a few seconds after she fell in, shivering and looking at all the other cadets who were snickering and laughing.

The Stormtroopers soon caught up to the group of cadets. "Alright play time is over cadets, back to work."

The complied with the older men, they began to wade out of the water and back onto shore, Reann moved at her own pace, her clothes and hair dripping water. She turned to see if all the Cadets had gotten out, but something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention, smoke in the distance, before she could chose a course of action, the stormtrooper barked again. "Cadet, let's get moving."

* * *

Agent Kallus was looking over the sample rods that were collected and looked up to Reann, still wet from her fall. "And would you like to explain your appearance, Senior Cadet?"

Reann spoke up. "The others seem to be a little rowdy with following my orders, two of them pushed me into the river."

Agent Kallus sighed. "I see, if you can point them out, I'll have them pealing tubers for the next few rotations."

Reann lifter her head. "That is thoughtful sir, but I don't feel it is necessary."

Kallus nodded and looked down at his data pad. "Anything else you wish to report?"

Reann recalled what she saw and leaned forward. "I did see smoke in the distance."

Kallus looked up from his data pad and looked out to the horizon. He then reached for his commlink. "TK-448, get the troop transports filled up."

He began to make is way towards the vehicle depot where speeder bikes and a few transports were waiting for them, soon the small convoy disembarked from the small but growing base, further into the grasslands.

The trip passed by in a matter of minutes, they reached the source of the smoke, it was to all defiance of early reconnaissance and intelligence gathered, a small house made from whole logs of trees.

Kallus looked at the structure and the small railing of wooden fence. "Set your weapons for stun and follow my lead." Kallus reached for his bo-rifle and took the lead to the cabin.

A stormtrooper began to inspect the door, with one knock, the door began to creak open, they pushed the remainder of it open into the interior space. Furniture was on its sides, scratch marks covered the wall, the men observed the scratches, when one of them came across a knife with a red ribbon and me message, pinned to the wall.

"Agent Kallus." One of the stormtroopers alerted.

Kallus walked right over and observed the piece of paper, the language written on it was unknown to him. "We'll have to get the interpreter droid."

As the small band of imperials marched out two troopers who went to investigate the fire approached. "Agent Kallus, sir. We found the source of the fire; we took scans of what appeared to be a corpse of a large creature in the fire."

Agent Kallus snatched the data pad from the stormtrooper and began to look over the image. He then perked his head up. "Back to camp." He shouted.

* * *

Reann was marshaling the other cadets who were doing their evening exercise routines. The cam droid followed suit and filmed the entire session. Once the red light turned off on the droid the cadet's broke formation. "Alright to the mess hall then." Ordered Reann.

That was probably the only order the cadets seemed to follow. As they made their way towards the shelter where the rations were being prepared, the smell of seasoned nerf steak and fresh baked polystarch bread was a scent rare to anyone, as usually these were regulated into portions and packed into dehydrated rations. The cadets began to have their trays be filled with the sources of the aroma and began to gather into their groups while they ate.

Reann was looking for a place to sit, the moment she attempted to approach a table with an empty seat or two the other cadets would try to deny her the seat by placing their helmets on them. She continued to try to look for a seat, when she saw Minister Tua began to sit down at a table, also alone.

Reann made her way towards the table and politely asked. "Permission to sit down, Minister?"

Minister Tua giggled a bit. "Sit down dear." Reann smiled as she sat down and began to cut her steak.

Tua looked at Reann. "Is everything alright, Cadet Reann, is it?"

The young cadet began to open up to the minister. "I never thought being a senior cadet can be this hard, the others don't think I have the right views to be in the Empire, or even as their commander."

Tua leaned in. "Such as?"

Reann looked at the minister and spoke softly. "I don't like hurting people or any innocent lifeforms, yet in the academy, they basically told us to be rude, rash, and violent, especially towards each other."

Tua tried to be reassuring, putting her arm around the cadet. "I understand, I though the empire was supposed to be what it wanted to project itself long ago, but I've seen things that made me question that as well. But we are here in the service of our emperor, and if those around us would not improve the world, we will do it ourselves."

"Am I interrupting something?" the voice caught the two girls off guard, they turned to see Agent Kallus standing behind them.

Reann almost stood up to saluted him, but Kallus stopped her. "Please, I've had a busy day running around the plains trying to figure out what's been happening here."

He sat down with his meal and took a good chunk of the steak into his mouth. Once he swallowed, he began to disclose his discovery. "We found a primitive home over by that fire you reported to us Cadet, the cause of the fire looked to be set off by what we presume in an intelligent lifeform."

Tua looked at agent Kallus evermore confused. "Intelligent lifeforms?"

Agent Kallus began to slice up more meat from his tray as he spoke. "The only thing we know is that they can build simple structures, start fire, and have a writing system, but further evidence also puts on that they are skilled with metalworks, we found a well forged knife at the scene."

Tua looked back to her food and put a spoonful of the polystarch bread in her mouth. Reann took a moment to think, "Do you think these lifeforms can be a threat?"

Kallus shook his head is disagreement. "Whatever forged this weapon is up for debate, the creature's ribcage we found earlier, we found another, it was the item being burnt that cause the smoke you saw. It is a large predator from what we were able to analyze. And seeing how we found two separate corpses in less than a few clicks apart, this could be their domain."

Tua swallowed the bread still in her mouth. "Then, is it safe to still be here?"

Kallus reassured the Minister. "I've had motion sensors set up a click out from the base camp, if anything crosses past them, it will sound an alarm." He then turned to Reann. "If those alarms do go off, take the cadets to the central building, it's just been put up and its walls are reinforced, nothing on this planet should be able to penetrate it."

Minister Tua smiled at Reann and put a small holdout blaster on the table. "Don't worry, its only setting is stun, the most it can do is give someone a headache and a refreshing nap."

Reann giggled as she took the small blaster and placed it in one of her pockets on the sleeves. "Thanks minister, that's really thoughtful of you."

The three continued to enjoy their dinner as night fell.

* * *

The camp only had a few more minutes before curfew. Some of the cadets were still outside, playing with smooth rocks and a few drawn rings in the dirt. Reann walked up to them, one of the cadets grunted. "Listen, we're in the Empire now, we don't need you to tell us our bedtime."

Reann then surprised the other cadets with her reply. "I was actually going to ask if I can play with you guys two."

The other cadets began to look at each other as if she were joking, but quietly he handed her a rock and began to explain how to play.

Agent Kallus and Minister Tua looked on as she was being accepted into the group. Tua smiled and spoke indirectly to Kallus, "She's just like us, but younger, more innocent."

Kallus nodded. "I know there have been questions on the Empire after the Phoenix Squadron' victory against Grand Moff Tarkin." The Empire tried to suppress these thoughts from its citizens and inside its ranks…

Tua interrupted and looked him in the eye. "Then I hope you, being part of the ISB, will make sure nothing bad happens to her."

Kallus just smiled and shook his head. He began to walk towards the officer's barracks when the night ambiance was interrupted with a low distance mash of a howl and a growl. The sound caught everyone off guard. Tua turned to Kallus. "That sounded quite far?"

Kallus began to look around to see if he could see the source of the sound. "I don't know, but I think we should be alright…"

Suddenly, a loud clash comparable to a quick flash of lightning rang out, followed by another one. The two adults ran to the perimeter, two stormtroopers looked out with their macro binoculars. "There!" one of them shouted.

Kallus was handed one of the pairs, he began to see bright and short flashes in the tall grass, he saw the silhouette of humans between the flashes. "There are people out there. Turn on the floodlights!"

Before a stormtrooper could throw the switch, a bright light filled the valley overhead, they all looked up, covering, and squinting their eyes as they saw a flare illuminating everything.

They then heard from the area of all the commotion. "Over there! Fall back."

The group of figures began to run towards the encampment. As the figures got closer, the stormtroopers began to aim their weapons. "Hold!" one of them shouted.

The group stopped feet in front of the Imperials. Kallus and Tua looked the men up and down, the strangers were wearing red tunics with black cloth webbing, white trousers with a black stripe down the side, they wore a short cylinder style hat with a brim at the front, and the number twenty four on the front, and they had fear in their eyes.

"Here they come!" One of them in the back shouted. Kallus looked out from behind the group and saw the shine in what eyes were prowling in the grass. He pulled out his bo-rifle and began firing between the gaps between the men as they dropped to the floor to get out of the line of fire.

One of the creatures dropped dead while the others charged at full speed, showing their teeth as they jumped at the Imperials. One of the strange men stretched out his weapon, that had a long knife at the end and impaled on of the creatures at it attempted to pounce on him.

The other landed on a stormtrooper and began to chew on its armor. Minister Tua took of her hat and tossed it at the creature, the simple fashionwear just bounced off the creature, but it stopped gnawing on the stormtrooper and fixed its sights on Minister Tua, she began to back up slowly into the camp, and began to dash as the creature snarled. She ran as fast as she could towards the central building, only to find herself and the other cadets banging at the door. "They didn't wire the doors yet!" one of the cadets shouted.

The turned as looked at the creature right in the eyes, it began eyeballing its targets, to see which one could give it a satisfying snack. "Leave them alone!" They all turned to see Reann run up with the holdout blaster, and began to fire stun shots at the creature, she kept firing, landing hit after hit, till the creature fell down.

She slowly began to catch her breath, the cadets looked on in total awe, "Let us hear it for Reann! The bravest of us all!"

The cadets cheered and hoisted her up on her shoulders, Tua smiled as she saw Reann being embraced by the others.

Agent Kallus and the small group of men walked towards the unconscious creature. "Looks like you guys got it really good, Captain Dillon Bryson, His Imperial Majesty's twenty fourth home division, you?"

Agent Kallus looked at them, still trying to process all that had just happen. "Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau."

Bryson looked at his other men and back at Kallus. "I don't think I've heard there was a 'Security Bureau' set up?"

Agent Kallus firmly replied, "I don't think I've heard of the Twenty Forth Home Division either."

Bryson began to look around the camp, seeing the stormtroopers in their white armor, their odd-looking weapons, and the clothing style of the cadets and Minister. He looked back at Kallus. "Where are you from?" he asked intently?

Kallus pointed up at the sky. "We're from a planet, called Lothal, our Galactic Empire is here to conduct a special mission."

Bryson could not believe what he was hearing but tried to explain his purpose also. "Our Emperor, Augustus, sent us on an expedition to deal with these feral grass banshees wreaking havoc out here. If you do not mind, if my men could remain here till morning and well try to sort this all out and try to understand more about each other."

Before Kallus could decide on the best course of action, Minister Tua butted in. "I'm in charge of our delegation here, I'll see to it that your men are looked after and meet all your needs."

Bryson smiled and put his hand out to the minister, to which Tua went to shake.

The other cadets watched from a distance, once of them nudged Reann. "You see that? That is history in the making, and we'll all get credit for it."

Reann just laughed. "They'll remember me for saving all of you." The other cadets laughed and went to their barracks to rest form the exigent they experienced and prepared for what adventure tomorrow could bring.


	8. Book 1 Chapter 8

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 8: Syndulla's Secret

* * *

Sabine took her time observing the marking on a sign next to the road. The others took a moment to sit down and breathe.

Chopper nudged Hera on the shoulder with his manipulators and started chirping urgently. Hera's eyes opened wide as she pieced together what Chopper was saying. "That's today!"

She quickly turned her head to Kanan, who was clearing some dirt on his lightsaber. She turned back to Chopper in a bit of a panic. "I don't think he remembers either. Unless he's waiting for me to make the first move."

Chopper tried to calm Hera down, but she continued to fuss. "Maybe we did not do it back then because we always had the Empire at our back, but here, there is not a single stormtrooper trying to kill us. If anything, this is the perfect moment to do this."

Chopper did the equivalent of a facepalm but proceeded to follow Hera as she made her way closer to Kanan.

She opened her mouth, only to have Sabine interrupt the Silence and cut her off before she could begin. "Alright, this sign says there is a town nearby, we can probably find food, lodging and maybe a map of the region there."

Kanan got up without acknowledging Hera and got back on his speeder bike. Hera just stood there, blankly at Kanan, waiting for him to acknowledge she was there, only to be put back into Reality by Chopper. "I know, I'm coming."

The crew was on a hill just outside the town, Ezra looked though a pair of macro-binoculars. It was a basic town, looks of friendly looking faces, but there was a fairly good-sized stone wall surrounding the town. And the main roads in and out of the perimeter we are guarded by men in matching blue tunics and caps with rifles.

He slid back behind the hill crest. And looked at the others "It may be hard getting in, it looks like there are soldiers guarding every square inch of the outer perimeter, and I don't think they'll be nice to you two." Hera and Zeb knew he was talking to Zeb.

Zeb let off a single laugh and a big grin across his face. "Don't worry kid, I can disguise myself as a human again." He reached into his pack and pulled out a couple of vials of the same pink powder Lavina tossed on him days earlier. "She gave me some extra's just in case we had to do this again."

Zeb opened the cork at the top and began sprinkling it over his head, the powder began to glow and once it had all cleared up, Zeb was like a Human again, purple hair, broad mussels, and human like complexions. He then turned to Hera.

Hera was trying to back out of it. "I don't think I'm down for this Zeb."

Zeb started laughing as he pulled the cork off another vial. "Nonsense, it's the only way we're getting you in without giving someone a heart attack or getting shot at."

Before she could counter that statement, Zeb flung the contents of the vial onto Hera. She was blinded by the powder, but felt lighter all of a sudden, when the powered clear, everyone except Kanan, who was looking down at the town, was in complete surprise to see the new Hera.

She made her way over to her bag where she had a holo-mirror. She saw what this stuff did to her. She removed her head gear to reveal that she now had brown bobbed hair, short like Sabines but better groomed, with white streaks that were reminiscent of her lekku tattoos, her skin was no longer green and resembled something like Kanan's. but her facial complexion was almost unchanged.

Hera took a good moment to admire herself, before making her way to Kanan. "How do I look love?"

Kanan seemed almost oblivious to the question, he then looked up from the Macro-binoculars to see a new yet familiar face. "Hera?" he questioned.

She just kept smiling, Kanan smiled for just a second but quickly got back up to address the others. "Alright, once we get inside we got tasks to do, Sabine, Zeb, you go find a map, Ezra and I will go find some lodging, and Hera, you take Chopper and go get supplies. Leave the bikes here, we'll pick them up when we leave tomorrow."

The others began to pick up their belongings off the bikes and place them on their backs. Hera was still perplex on why Kanan was acting like this.

Ezra was next to Kanan when he heard a whisper like call without words. "He's close, is he?"

Ezra noticed Kanan was affixed to the calling in the force, he elbowed his master, putting him back in the moment. "I can feel him, really. It feels like the closer we get, the stronger and more distracting the connection is." Ezra smiled at his master and began making his way down the hill back on the road.

* * *

The crew was walking up to a checkpoint, the soldiers looked them up and down as they got closer, they were confused by their attires, but not shock and terrified as the crew would have expected if Hera and Zeb had not been disguised. Sabine and Zeb especially looked at their uniforms. Zeb leaned in to whisper in Sabine's ear "Those are the same uniforms we saw in the tree."

Sabine nodded. The rest approached the head of the checkpoint, one of the men in blue approached them. "Identification and travel credentials please."

Kanan was about to reach out his hand, but Ezra stood in front of him and stopped him. "Hey, I've been practicing." He stood in front of the soldier and waved his hand, saying. "You don't need to see our identification and travel credentials."

The soldier reached for his pistol and scolded Ezra. "Is there a problem kid? Your Identification and Credentials, now."

Kanan pushed Ezra aside. "Sorry about my son, but You actually don't need to see our ID's and credentials"

The soldier eased off his tense stance and put his hand off his gun. Repeating the words Kanan has spoken. "I actually don't need to see your ID's and credentials."

Kanan waved his hand again. "You may enter without further problems."

The soldier repeated. "You may enter without further problems."

"Have a nice day." Kanan said.

"Have a nice day." Said the officer, he motioned towards the soldier in the gate house to open the gate and allowing the rebels to walk though.

Kanan turned to Ezra. "We really need to work on that." Ezra shrugged jestingly in acceptation.

* * *

The crew began to separate, And Hera and Chopper made their way to the market. She began buying the supplied Sabine reasoned were safe for consumption, it was only the other day they realized that some of them had allergic reactions to some of the foodstuffs on the planet like select nuts and berries, so now they had to be cautious of what they bought and ate.

Hera was finishing with buying some red fruits, when she heard a cry for help behind her.

She saw four men, armed with guns and long knives over an older man.

One of the men yelled. "You have not paid your due's yet, and the boss tired of you whining about extensions!" He raised his knife above his head, the older man continued to beg. Hera rushed in and grabbed the man's arm just before he thrusted it down.

The man turned and looked at Hera. "Listen lady, you don't want to tango with all of us..." Before he could finished, Hera thrusted her leg up, right between his legs. The man fell the ground, crying in pain, as the other thugs pulled out their pistols.

Before things got ugly, the sound of a horn went off, soldiers on the backs of four legged stallions rushed though the crowd and cornered Hera and the thugs, but to her relief, they only pointed their rifles at the thugs. "Arrest them!" one of the soldiers shouted. One opted to run away while the other three surrendered, two of the soldiers on horseback drew their swords and began to chase the runner.

Hera went to the aid of the old man. "Sir, are you alright?"

The old man opened his eyes. And smiled at Hera. "You saved my life ma'am."

One of the soldiers dismounted his steed and went to check on the old man as well, he turned to Hera. "I've never seen someone brave enough to stand up to four Scalp hunters before."

Hera looked at the soldier. "Scalp hunters, are they like Bounty hunters?"

The officer chuckled. "Comparing them to bounty hunters is like comparing cannibals to gentlemen. The scalp hunters kill without question and bring the scalp of their targets as a sign of their accomplishment. With Bounty Hunters you know they'll bring you in alive to get the higher reward and you know you'll will least receive fair treatment."

The soldier walked back to his steed and mounted back on. "Just keep watch of your back, they tend to hold grudges. Hiyah!" The soldier began to ride with the rest of his men down the road of the market.

Hera helped the older man up from the ground. "You should be alright now, but I must get going."

Chopper quickly moved from behind a small hiding place and began to follow Hera, most people looked on at the curious little machine moving on the ground, one more then the others. He Kept his distance and began following the two rebels.

Hera notice the man was following her and chopper, they began to increase their pace. The man following did the same. They took a turn into a shop and tried to blend herself in with the other people inside. Which she then realized was harder, as the other women were wearing large dresses, she was still in her orange and brown flight suit.

The man walked right next to Hera. She was nervous, she thought about reaching for her blaster, but she did not want to start a panic by using a laser weapon in a place that has probably prominently seen slug throwers, the man then looked at both her and Chopper, and said. "Is that an astromech droid?"

Hera looked at the man in total confusion, how did he know about droids, but before she could ask, the man simply said. "Follow me, I desperately need your help."

Hera looked at him stonily in the eye. "And if I don't?"

His gentle expression turned rough. "I don't want to make a scene here, but we're both packing guns."

She looked the side of his leg, to see one of the six shot guns the locals used in a holster. She realized she was not given the choice to decline, she only nodded and followed as they left the store.

* * *

She was following for a while now, they looked like they had entered a residential area. He walked up to one of the homes and began to open the door, he held it open for Hera, she walked and as she entered she saw the walls were littered with hand drawn star maps, calculations, and though an open door, what looked like the remains of a light shuttle.

The man closed the door and began to speak. "My name is Saul Arorez. A student at the Coruscant Institution of Ancient History."

Hera turned he gaze from the books and star maps on the walls towards him, she saw he was beginning to cry. He then continued in tears. "I've been here for too long, it's been to long since I've last talked to someone, I knew would understand me."

Hera began to approach the man and tried to cheer him up. "It's alright, why are you here?"

Saul fought back the tears. "I was mainly researching the Architects, I got a lead that took me to wild space, but while I was there, I somehow lost control of my ship and ended up here, beyond the rim."

Hera came closer as he continued. "But I found strong connections that backed up my Research, I don't care what you think about the Empire and our self-appointed Emperor, he is a thug who suppresses history and expects us to take it as the truth. But here, the locals have records that state that three Architects walked with their ancestors in what they call the Age of the Gods, they then left stead to force sensitive creatures, in an time called the Age of the Dragons. Then came the Age of Man…"

Chopper beeped a question. Saul responded. "well, it's the end cap of the Age of Industry, the people claimed they have reached the peaked of development, ground vehicles they call cars or automobiles, steam powered boats, machine guns, radio and film, mass production, even flying machines. But its all primitive compared to everything we know in our galaxy. They claimed the era ended with the start of the war, and now that it has lasted for five years already and it's still going with no end in sight."

Hera leaned in with a question of her own. "I doubt you brought me here to lecture me on your discoveries, Saul."

He acknowledged with a grin. "Judging by your appearance and the workmanship of that C1 unit, I could tell you're a mechanic, perhaps on ships, I can also tell by the streaks in your hair your using a wizards spell to disguise your true form."

Hera jolted back, but Saul only raised his eyebrows and waited to see if he was correct. Hera sighed, admitting defeat. "Alright, you caught me, I'm a Twi'lek. My name is Hera Syndulla."

Saul was caught off guard with the last name. "Syndulla? You wouldn't happened to be related to the Clone Wars war hero, Cham Syndulla?"

Hera turned her head away, making sure he did not see her frustration with her family. But complied. "He's… My father."

The brightest glow came across Saul's face. "Please, you got to tell me all about him."

Hera tucked in a little by his request, and quickly changed the subject. "So, your ship."

Saul was brought back into the pressing matters. "Right, most of its intact, and my scans are picking up a fueling center just above the planet, came in a few days ago… I knew the empire would find this place, but not so quickly. Which is why I spent my time here to archive the local history many of it that parallels with the history of our galaxy just in case the Empire plans to suppress the history here as well. If I can get to the ship, I can make it home as an Imperial citizen, the only problem is, I used my ships central control unit to pay off a debt. I think if your droid will let me borrow his circuitry, I can…"

Before he could finish, Chopper began to charge his manipulators and attempt to shock him. Saul jumped up on a table, out of reach of the droid.

Hera nodded. "Yeah, Chopper is not the donor type. But I do have some money, maybe I can pitch in to buy it back."

Saul scratched his head in worry. "Yeah, there's just one problem with that… I sold it to the Scalp hunters, and they do not like to give stuff back. And we know you had a bad run in with them today."

Hera thought quickly. "So, we steal it back. Do you know where they could keep it?"

Saul hesitated. Hera pulled her pistol and spun it in her hands. "I've handed far worse before, we can handle this."

Saul shrugged and gave in. "Its most likely in their hideout in the lower valley. I can take you there and see if you still want to take them on."

Hera smiled as Chopper began to gloat.

* * *

It was later in the evening, they overlooked a cave in the lower valley, the entrance was guarded, heavily guarded. Saul looked though the macro-binoculars Hera had lone him. "Not good. I'm seeing two water cooled machine guns at the front, At least thirty men with bolt-action rifles, two additional men with sub machine guns, and one makeshift armored car. You better have your fathers love for action and skills of strategy."

Hera chucked. "It's a Syndulla specialty, you?"

Saul blushed "Well… I'm technically, more of a pacifist…"

Hera was confused. "Then why do you have a gun?"

Saul pulled it out of his belt and opened the cylinder. "It's been empty since the day I got it, I sometimes needed it to bluff myself out of trouble."

Suddenly, and Idea came into Hera's mind. "I got a plan, I caused a little bit of trouble with their men earlier, I bet one of them got away and told them, which means I'm wanted. And since they already know you as a loyal client, you can turn me in. Chopper, once we are in, place yourself in a position where you can get us out. Once we find the control unit, we break our way out."

Chopper saluted and began to look for his best vantage point.

Hera took her pistol out of her boot holster and handed it to Saul. "You'll need to keep this hidden till the moment we need it."

Saul took the small blaster and put it in one of his pockets. The two split from the droid to begin the plan.

The sentries in front saw two figures walking towards them, they aimed their rifles and the machine guns at them. "Declare Yourself!" one of them shouted.

Saul replied. "It's alright, it's just me, and I brought a gift." Hera looked around, and she saw the one thug that ran away. "That's her, that's the lady that got the others caught." He blurted out. The other sentry lowered his weapon. "Bring her inside, she'll answer to the boss."

The two entered the mouth of the cave, looking up to see Chopper positioning himself at the lip of the cave. They continued to descend inside, it was warm, and to Hera's worry, it was wet. If she got soaked it would wash the disguise spell off. But eventually they reached a large chamber, men were at tables counting money, loading bullets into weapons, and out of the corner of their eyes, they saw the central control unit. But Hera was soon brought to her knees, she looked up to see a man dressed in long silk robes, no hair, and a heavily scarred face. If anything, she could have been told it was Emperor Palpatine himself and she would believe it.

The boss spoke. "This is her?" the other thugs just nodded, he then turned to Saul. "You've done a good service to us. Unfortunately, we do not put out rewards, but I could have you admitted into our brotherhood at a later date."

Saul cringed a little at the idea he could be a Scalp hunter. But held his composure. "That's very kind of you, sir."

The boss approached them, he lifted up Hera's head, making her look directly into his eyes. "And you have the audacity to stop my men from collecting the payment from an overdue client? Young lady, a war is around us, and people do not have the crowns to buy the simple things in life, they agreed to the terms of our, humble, service. and they well know if they cannot pay, they are no longer protected." He paused and looked at Saul, still frowning and not changing his tone. "And those who think they can double cross me have not place with our dealings either."

Saul felt a rifle barrel press against the back of his head. He slowly put his pistol on the ground and put his hands up.

The boss walked over to Saul's weapon and picked it up. "You think we wouldn't have figured that you were pushing her with an empty gun?" He opened the cylinder and spun it, overviewing all six empty slots. The guard began to search Saul's pockets, finding Hera's pistol two. The boss spoke almost prophetically no taking his eyes of the revolver; "I don't believe in guns either, their sloppy, All the skill and elegance are in the blade. But sadly, in this world, they serve their purpose."

He took his knife out and inspected it, he looked with disgust and displeasure, he then turned to his men. "I'll need a few minutes to sharpen my blade, take them to the holding cell."

* * *

Chopper was waiting outside still, spinning around in circle at a steady pace. he was starting to get bored and Sabine had promised him an oil bath once they got to the Inn. Soon he realized there had been no commotion, no plan executed, he started searching his surroundings for something he could use. Soon, his droid eyes fell upon the armored car, with its door wide open, and keys in the ignition.

* * *

Hera and Saul waited in a cell, Hera began to reflect on what all went wrong today, with the plan, getting split up, and Kanan. Saul noticed Hera's Expressions, and leaned in "I take it there's someone you care about?"

Hera was quick to try to hide her true feelings. "What? Uh-no, but I do have friends who are waiting for me."

Saul got more inquisitive. "And I bet you're close to one of these friends."

Hera sighed and gave in. "There is this one guy, I've known him for quite some time, and I don't know how to tell him I really do love him more than he thinks I do."

Saul took off one of his shoes and pulled out a small holodisk, he pressed the button, and up came a picture of a group of individuals, she recognized one of the people in the picture was Saul, he the spoke. "I don't think they'll remember me, or if they're still there."

Hera tried to comfort him. "It's okay, we always hope for the best things, and they usually turn up for us."

Saul smiled back at Hera. "You know, I my wife told me if I ever needed to tell her I loved her, it was to hug her immediately without second thought, give it a try."

Hera went over the idea in her head and decided it was the first thing to do when she got out. Suddenly, a man knocked on the cell bar. "The boss is ready for you, 'urry up!"

Saul and Hera tried to remain confident, but they needed to alter the plan, on their way approaching the leader, he had his knife sharper then before, and the disposition to show no mercy. Hera then felt a drop fall on one of her hands, she saw the small spot wash away a small part of the illusion. She looked ahead and saw a decent sized puddle on the floor. She quickly turned to Saul and whispered, "On my go."

Saul was confused as they got closer, and closer, and closer.

Hera suddenly forced herself to fall forward, lunging herself into the floor and into the small pool of water, immersing her entire head. The guard acted quick to try to bring her up, but when she surfaced from the puddle, they were frightened to see she had 'transformed' into a green creature with snakes coming out of her head. Hera let out a feral hiss scaring the guards back. The boss backed up behind his chair shouting. "What manner of dark magic is this!"

Saul saw his opportunity, he stomped on the foot of the guard behind him. The guard dropped his rifle in a fit of pain, and Saul quickly grabbed it sand used it to push the guard to the ground.

"Hera!" He yelled, "The console!" Suddenly the sound of gunfire filled the cave, more guards arrived in, Saul began to use the rifle to suppress the guards, Hera used the diversion to make it across the room to take the console back. Despite under light fire, she made it to the table, and was also able to find her weapon, she put the settings for stun and began to fire back. One of the guards got hit by the stun rings, the others looked on with awe and began to back down.

The leader saw his men backing away, he drew his knife and charged at Hera. She saw him coming and began firing at him, to her shock, he somehow resisted each stun shot and kept moving forward. Hera tried to counter tackle him and restrain his arm he was holding the knife with.

The two we are face to face; the leader spoke furiously. "What in all the things of darkness are you!?"

Hera was able to overpower him and started to push him back, stating; "My name is Hera Syndulla, and I fight for the people who stand against tyrants!"

Suddenly she thrusted her leg into the leader's gut, sending him to the floor. Hera took a second to catch her breath, she ducked down as another shot ricochet off the wall near her. She grabbed the console and dashed back towards Saul.

They dashed towards the exit of the cave, only to be blocked by the sentries who were standing at the front. They then heard the footsteps of the guards on the inside follow closely behind.

Hera and Saul knew it was too late for surrender. But the fear slipped away, when bang after bang followed in rapid succession, the sentries on the outside dropped dead with each bang. Hera and Saul saw the armored car that was parked outside was shooting at its own men. But though the gaps of the viewport they saw the dome of an old astromech droid.

Chopper found out how to operate the machine gun and began firing everywhere he saw a scalp hunter, laughing hysterically with each shot that recoiled the gun. Hera took a moment to stand in amazement that her Droid was capable of such things, Saul grabber her hand and brought her back into the moment. They dashed towards the armored car, Saul quickly took the driver's seat and began to press on the gas. The wheels spun in the mud a bit before gaining traction and making its way out of the territory. Saul and Hera began to laugh as the Scalp hunter's hideout got further and further away. "We did it!" Saul shouted. Hera joined in on the excitement. "There must have been like eighty of them!"

Chopper pulled his way down the turret to join the conversation. Hera patted her droid on the head. "Chopper, you can have all the oil baths you want when we get back."

* * *

In Saul's garage they we are finishing up the wiring. Hera had informed the others where she was all day and invited them to loan their hands. Sabine came out from under the ship. "She'll be able to make it to that fueling platform, then if the Empire has a good will for once, they'll let you refuel."

Saul nodded. "With my credentials, I think they'll have no choice but to comply."

Zeb and Ezra were with Chopper, admiring the armored car. Zeb was in doubt of what Chopper was telling Ezra about how he singly handed took out the entire gang.

Hera saw Kanan, sitting on Saul's lawn, she approached him, and without hesitation, she gave him a big hug. Kanan was caught off guard. But some how he figured out how she was feeling. "Oh, it's that day again."

Hera kept him in her embrace "It only comes once a year love."

Kanan was able to turn himself around and hug Hera back. "Our 7th year together. One day, the galaxy can be stable enough for something better."

The two touched their heads together. Once they had their moment, they turned around to see the others just looking at them sweetly Sabine was still waiting for them to kiss but never got to see that desire fulfilled today.

Soon. Saul's ship was finished. He began to pack his books of all the research on the local planet. He turned to the others before entering his ship. "Best of luck on your journey."

Kanan waved. "May the force be with you."

Saul smiled, and climbed into ship, the airtight door closing behind him, the vessel began to lift, and soon bolted up into the night sky and into the stars.

The crew of the Ghost looked on at the great horizon, Hera especially, knowing she made a friend, a difference, and a move of courage and confidence.


	9. Book 1 Chapter 9

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 9: Dreams of the Past

* * *

The weather took a turn for the worst. Rain came down hard, thunder made the specters jump, unable to recognize it either as the storm or local gunfire, lightning danced around them in the sky above, illuminating the dark and dreary sky for a brief second.

Kanan did his best to navigate through the rain, trying to lead his crew to safety though the shifting and perilous terrain. He squints his eyes, to try to get a glimpse on the horizon, a bolt of lightning struck the sky, giving light to the shadow Kanan was making out, a mountain, and most likely a cave.

He turned to the others and shouted over the tattering of rain "I think there's a cave ahead, stay close!"

The others were clinging onto their rain ponchos, doing their best to keep themselves dry from the barrage of rain drops coming in from what seemed all directions.

They traversed there way through the thick mud and shifting ground to the base of the mountain. Sabine pulled down the scope on her Mandalorian helmet, and began to scan for an opening, and sure enough, there was one just overhead.

"There!" she shouted. "I don't see a clear way up there; we'll have to be really careful or this could end badly."

Kanan observed the height, it was not a large climb, but the rain made the rocks slippery, one wrong step, and it would be down onto the hard rock under their feet.

Kanan took a giant leap up, thanks to his force abilities, he was able to clear the rocks all together and make it up, he turned to see the cave, it was quite a spacious cave. He then reached his arm over the side. "Who's first?" he called out.

Ezra made his was to the base of the rock, he slowly began to climb, getting good grips on the rock before he made and movement upwards, eventually he caught Kanan's hand, who began to pull him up onto the upper ledge and to safety.

Sabine began her climb up, and took the same caution Ezra did, Kanan reached out and grabbed her arm, and pulled her over.

Zeb began to make his climb up, halfway he nearly slipped, but regained his footing. He made is way closer and closer, Sabine, Ezra, and Kanan outstretched their arms in order to pull Zeb all the way up.

Hera tried her best to attempt to lift up chopper and hand him to Kanan, she began handing him the supplies as well, now it was her turn to ascend.

She made sure she had a strong grip on the rocks as she began to climb upwards. She nearly made it to the range where Kanan could reach her, Kanan was able to grab her, but suddenly, as Hera tried to take the next step up, she lost her footing, and began to fall downwards. Kanan realized what was happening, but the rock underneath him was also slippery, sending him down and over the ledge as well.

The other crew members turned in shock and shouted the names of their parent like figures.

In a moment, Kanan saw the Fear in Hera's eyes and they made a rapid descent downwards. Time moved slowly for Kanan, he began to reach out to Hera's upper arms, and began to switch positions with her. Knowing now that he will take the blow of the impact, he exhaled, and closed his eyes.

The others looked down into darkness, unable to see they were alright. Another bolt of lightning shot across the sky, filling the scene with light. They saw Hera, trying to check the pulse of a motionless Kanan Jarrus. She looked up at the others, and with tears in her eyes, she cried out. "Help him!"

Zeb and Ezra, with Hera at the bottom tried to get Kanan up over the ledge, Sabine frantically searched for Medical supplies, while Chopper began assembly one of the emergency blankets and glow lamp for heat.

They were able to get Kanan and Hera over the ledge and into the cave. The crew stood anxiously as Sabine hooked up some of the equipment on Kanan, and waiting for the readings to come in. Ezra looked at Hera, she wore dread and sadness on her face, as if she was solely responsible for it.

The results showed up on the medical Datapad, "He has a concussion, there are small breaks in his back, but a bacta stem should accelerate the healing process." Sabine was somber as she delivered the news. Chopper rushed to the first aid kit and pulled out one of the bacta stems. Sabine assisted the droid as the healing property was injected into Kanan.

All the while Hera held on to her Jedi's hand.

"Kanan." She uttered.

"Kanan."

* * *

"Caleb?" a young voice whispered.

"Caleb?" it called out again, only this time a little clearer.

"Caleb!" It shouted, followed by a case of soft materials hitting a still weary Caleb Dume in the face.

"Hey, Hey! I'm awake." He responded, trying to push the pillow away from his face.

"Don't you remember what today is?"

The young padawan tried to remember, its been a while since he and his master had been to the front, but there was no advance warning of re-deployment, but then he realized. Master Yoda was teaching some of the padawans and younglings today.

"Oh!" exclaimed the young padawan, bolting up from his bed to get dress.

Eventually he made his way towards one of the training rooms. Where master Yoda spoke, surrounded by Younglings, Padawans, and their Masters. "In the Force, A Jedi can find peace in a galaxy in turmoil."

Caleb tried to shimmy his way though the small gathering, over towards his master, Depa Billaba. The Jedi Master noticed her Padawan sneaking his way to her side, she gave a smile, not turning her gaze from Master Yoda. "You're late."

Caleb tried to lean in and stand on his toes, trying to get in a good whispering range of Master Billaba without interrupting Master Yoda. "I guess I kind of forgotten how soft the beds here in the temple are, Master."

They both quietly laughed to themselves, before honing their attention back towards Master Yoda. "In the force, balance there is, be in the light the Jedi must, tread the line we cannot."

One of the elevators opened, but rather then hearing the soft footsteps of regular Jedi boots. They all heard the tapping of metal and the rustling of fabric on the temple floor, and the cries of a Neimoidians. "Please, I beg of you, stop dragging me!"

The spiritual and enlightening mood of the morning was swept away, as a Jedi Master dragged an alien in clothes embezzled with Separatist alliance Logos across the marble flooring. Caleb has seen many Jedi Masters walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple before, but this one was different. He wore bandalores of energy cells, carried two blaster pistols on his belt along with his lightsaber, and a customized blaster rifle on his back. He also has a cheery and optimistic expression displayed on his face.

The Jedi Master looked towards Master Yoda, and Master Windu, and spoke while Grinning. "I'm now thinking the Trade Federation is more involved with the separatists then we last thought." He then scanned the crowed of Jedi till he found the face he was looking for. "Master Kenobi, I owe you a few drinks at Dex's now."

A light flutter of laughter filled the room, The Temples guard came in to take custody of the prisoner. Mace Windu came up next to Yoda and declared aloud. "Follow the rules, you'll become a Jedi Master. Try to teeter on the line of obedience and rebellion, you become a Master Khan."

Master Khan threw up his arms. "What are you talking about? We won that battle."

Master Yoda was not amused. "Leveled a building you did."

Khan pointed at Master Yoda. "That cut off the Droids reinforcements and armor support."

Windu leaned in more displeased. "There could have been Civilians inside."

Khan lifted his figure. "But there wasn't. Bio-scans were negative."

Master Windu gave a sigh. "We need to talk, in the council chambers."

Mace began to walk with Master Khan, but before he left the room, He called out over his shoulders. "Just let me know when you want to go to Dex's, Master Kenobi."

Caleb was unsure what just happened, he looked up to his master, she a smile on her face, with a bit of blush on it as well. "Master Bellaba, who was that?"

She quickly tried to wipe the emotion from her face and answered her curious padawan. "That was Master Jon Khan. He was made a Master after his died at the first battle of Geonosis, he saved countless other Jedi that day. I think you've met his padawan Anise I'zak a few times before."

He recalled seeing the Teenager wander the halls of the Temple, now he can tell where she got her attitude and possibly her explicit language from.

Bellaba continued. "I've known Master Khan for quite some time now. It's been a while since we last saw each other, perhaps we can give him some assistance."

She began to walk towards the elevators. Caleb hustled to catch up to her. He saw the floor selection she had chosen, the council chambers.

He spoke in soft opposition. "Wouldn't Master Yoda and Master Windu deny you entry? It sounded serious."

Bellaba chuckled. "It's my master, if there is someone he has to blame for my actions, look no further than the man who trained me."

Master Windu looked over the Holopad. "This is no longer effective Master Khan; your forces have done far too much damage and has racked up expenses to the limits. We'll have to order you to disband your irregulars and take command of a Clone Battalion."

Master Khan stood boldly. "I understand your frustration, but my men are taking down ten times the Clankers than Master Skywalker's 501st does, with far less casualties than any other force within the republic Military, and I'm counting Senate Commandos."

Windu put down the Holopad and leaned forward in his chair. "The Republic is in far too much debt to continue to pay your private forces. If you consider…"

Khan's positive attitude was overtaken by a compassionate opposition, when he leaned in, spoke softer and boldly to Master Windu. "How is it that I can pay my men, with money they send back to care for their families, when we have no idea what we are going to do with these legions of Clones after the war? I have been told that Clones are questioning their purpose in and after this war already. My irregulars know what they are fighting for, and they already have a life they can return to once this war is over."

Master Yoda leaned back into his seat and thought. "Correct, Master Khan is. Continue the funding of his Irregulars, we shall."

Master Windu eased off. The doors opened, Master Bellaba, Caleb Dume, and Khan's Padawan I'zak walked though.

Khan smiled as the three walked in, declaring his victory aloud. "Welp, guess I was right again."

Padawan I'zak and Master Bellaba laughed slightly, but Caleb still did not understand the humor Master Khan had.

Master Windu was not as mad as he seemed. But he spoke. "We were just about to call for you two."

Master Bellaba and Caleb looked at each other with a bit of confusion before looking back at the two Masters.

Yoda switched on the Hologram, of one of the outer rim worlds "To Dantooine, all of you must go."

Master Bellaba was confused. "Master Yoda, I thought we we're being sent to Mygeeto?"

Yoda turned towards the window, with sadness in his voice. "Captured the planet, General Grievous has. Liberate the world we must before moving on to Mygeeto."

Master Khan butted in. "Masters, with do respect, I'm from Dantooine, normally a Jedi is not allowed to return to their home worlds, why send me?"

Mace Windu answered. "You're the only other Jedi available to assist. And we know for sure you'll be extra cautious not to level any buildings while you're there."

* * *

Hera was still by Kanan's side, trying to put some drinking water into his mouth. Ezra stood by Hera and tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, Kanan is strong, he'll pull though. Come, join us for dinner."

Hera stayed close by, turning her head on occasion, Zeb passed Hera a bowl full of soup. She slowly ate, but glanced over, she was sometimes drawn to the glowing light of the compass they had received from the wizards a week earlier.

Everyone noticed how tense and nervous Hera was. Even Chopper was trying to get under Hera's arm, acting like a small animal to calm her nerves down.

Suddenly, Hera began to burst into tears. Ezra tried to pat her on the back. "It's not your fault, don't blame yourself."

She began to calm down, then amidst the sound of the storm, and the occasional sniff and sob, she heard Kanan's voice, though it was soft, and they could not make it out.

The others put down their soup and came to came to Kanan's side. He kept uttering the same words, but it was still far to quiet to make it out. Sabine smiled. "He's going to make it."

Hera gently Kissed Kanan's forehead, and he continued to utter.

"They're in the tall grass." He silently uttered

"They're in the tall grass."

Another bolt of lighting illuminated the sky outside the cave, and a loud clash of thunder erupted like an explosion.

* * *

"They're in the tall grass!" Shouted a clone.

The four Jedi exited the LAAT Gunships, deflecting blaster bolts coming their way.

Master Bellaba shouted "Commander Grey, get your troops down! Captain Styles, with Dume!"

The clones obeyed the order directly. Master Khan turned his lightsaber off and pulled his rifle out and began firing at the droids showing though the grass. The two Jedi master's hid themselves behind a small bluff of dirt. Khan popping out to take some potshots at some of the droids. "I think they're taking cover in that farm over there, maybe it's a command post even." He said.

Suddenly, their attention turned to two of Khan's irregulars who were setting up a rocket launcher. "We're not leveling buildings today!" he shouted.

His men vented a little but complied with the order. Bellaba went to her Commlink. "Caleb, are you in position?"

"We're ready, on your go." He replied.

She turned to Master Khan once we've taken out the droids in that barn, you charge the center, I have the left flank, my padawan has the right." Master Khan grinned and Shook Depa's hand. "Good luck."

Depa then shouted into her commlink. "Now!"

The two emerged in synchronization and began blocking incoming blaster bolts and covering their clones as they approached the barn. Then, they leapt high in the air and chose their targets, an unsuspecting B1 Battle Droid, and one that saw them coming.

"Uh It is raining Jedi!" the droid blurted out.

The other responded "Raining Jedi? Jedi can't fly-" only to be cut off by Master Bellaba's Lightsaber.

Khan turned to his men. "They go it covered."

Anise raised her lightsaber. "Forward!"

The irregulars began to charge, the droids attempted to hold their ground but were cut down by blaster fire from three directions. Suddenly from the barn, Commando droids burst out and began to attack Caleb and some of his clones. One of them knocked the young padawan to the ground as it raised its Vibrosword to try to kill the boy, Anise jumped behind the droid and was able to chop up the droid first with her lightsaber, she reached out of Caleb's hand. "You okay kid-"

She suddenly felt a violent push on her back. "Frak!" she cursed as she fell down on top of Caleb. A super battle droid had pushed her down and was taking aim at the two padawans on the ground. "Oh frell!" She cussed again.

Suddenly, a green lightsaber blade pieced the super, as it fell to the ground, Master Bellaba looked upon the two padawans, but then fixed her eyes on Anise. "You better hope my Padawan does not learn any new vocabulary on this mission, or you and I are going to have a long conversation."

Padawan I'zak scratched her head and tucked it down. "Sorry."

The two padawans were helped up back on their feet, they looked as the clones and Khan's irregulars finished the sweep of the farm, Commander Grey was satisfied with super low casualties they took and gave the order. "Alright, we're done here, we are to move on the nearby city. There the droids have set up a anti orbital cannon that will shoot our ships to pieces, as well as a communications relay that is jamming all transmissions. Both must be neutralized, or we will never see Mygeeto. Move out!"

The column of clones, irregulars, and jedi continued to march down the dirt roads. Caleb was taking the time to get to know Khan and the long friendship he had with his master. "And I kid you not, when she woke up, the snake had already tangled itself in her hair."

Caleb busted out in laughter. Once he had finished, Khan began to tell another story. "You know, before Master Windu got all strict on teachings, we would pull some jokes on him two, once we rigged his lightsaber to shock the whole frame if he tried to activate it, it was Depa's idea actually."

Master Bellaba leaned in toward Anise. "Maybe we can exchange you and Caleb for a day."

A man started rushing down the road, he was one of master Khan's Irregulars. He made his way next to them and began to walk at their pace. "Sir, the city has little to no defensive perimeters around it, but the droids are hiding their numbers and their tanks withing the confines of the city. As far as I can tell there's no way to reach that anti orbital cannon and the relay without bumping into a platoon of droids."

Khan began to think. "It must be a super tactical droid; they've re-positioned their troops to adjust for our attack."

Caleb. "So, how do we take out that cannon and liberate the town."

I'zak straighten up with a stroke of genius. "Wait, what if we take the relay first, If I can access the system, I could send a shutdown order to all the droids. Then we can make our way to the cannon and knock it out of commission."

Bellaba nodded. "they're expecting a large force, they won't be ready for four Jedi."

John turned towards one of his men. "We'll be doing a stealth mission, Jedi only. You take the clones and cause a distraction just on the outskirts, refrain from using explosives but make the droids think they are under attack. Let everyone know."

Blaster fire rained from the nearby bluff near the city. One of the battle droids turned to its superior. "It looks like the clones and a few insurgents have begun the engagement outside the city. Should we send some droids out to eliminate them."

The super tactical droid looked at the blaster fire down below. "No, this attack his highly illogical for the record of Depa Bellaba. She is always at the front, with her troops in frontal assaults, and those insurgents are Jon Khan's Irregulars, they have made no clear notion to advance or use long range explosives." The droid looked longer at the battle outside. "command all the droids in that sector to return fire but keep all other droids in their area and place them on high alert."

"Roger, roger." the droid replied.

The four Jedi hopped over the roads and alley ways by rooftop jumping over small positions of droids, till they reached the communications relay. The defenses overwhelming, tanks, rows of droids of every model, and no way to tell what they could expect on the inside.

Bellaba turned to the others. "There's far too many of them, is there another way in?"

"I don't see one" Caleb said.

Khan had an idea come to mind. "I'll draw off as many as I can, Anise, you go with the others, this is something I'll do alone."

Caleb reached of for Jon's hand as he attempted to walk away. "What if we can't find you once this all though."

Jon spoke reassuringly. "Caleb, I know you can find me. Trust in the force."

Caleb let go and watched as the Jedi Master stood in the road, in plain view. Master Khan ignited his lightsaber and swung it over his head. "Hey Droids!" he shouted. All the battle droid's attention was drawn directly on him, he then shouted, "Your Mother had an 8-bit hard drive, and your Father crashes when I ask it to perform a second task!"

"Hey, that mean." Called out one of the droids

The one standing next to it pushed it on the back, "You circuit head, that's the Jedi. Blast him!"

The droids began to open fire, Master Khan deactivated his lightsaber and pulled out his blaster pistols, and began firing back on the droids, he was hoping he would take the majority, but to his astonishment and horror, he drew all of them away from their posts towards him.

He began to run down the street. When the coast was clear, the three Jedi dashed towards the relay center. Once inside, they found the central unit, only being manned by four B1 Battle droids.

"Hey, how did you get in here?" One of the droids asked.

His only response was to be cut up by Caleb's lightsaber. Anise took the command chair and began searching for the right command and frequency. "I almost have it." She declared. Suddenly, the Super Tactical Droid entered the room. "Surrender Jedi, if you do not comply, I will destroy this relay and you along with it."

The saw the droids hand hover over a button on its wrist, if it pressed it, the whole relay would blow. Master Bellaba though, then she looked towards the droid, she spoke with a tone of guile in her words. "Do it, you'll only fail your mission."

The droid looked directly at the Jedi Master. "Your logic does not compute."

She leaned in. "Your mission is to protect this place from us, the Jedi, is that correct?"

"Affirmative." The droid replied.

"But your primary mission is to defend the anti-orbital defense cannon AND the relay. If you press that button, you succeed at one mission, but fail the other two."

The droid began to process "The logic is valid, I cannot destroy you without destroying the station, If I did the Separatists will lose the relay. Conflict in error detected, time needed to recalculate-"

Anise pressed a button on the relays control module. "This should give you plenty of time to think it over." She exclaimed.

The red eyes of the droid powered off, and it began to slouch forward. Droids across the city powered down. On the outskirts the men and clones cheered. "Forward!" one shouted.

Caleb followed a trail of shot droids, till he came across an area where they all shutdown, he heard music coming from one of the Cantina's. He peeked his head though, only master Khan was in the room. Master Khan noticed Caleb walked in. "Took you long enough, have a seat kid, I'll try to find some Moof juice, or blue milk."

Caleb sat down at the Cantina bar counter. Master Khan was able to find some Moof juice, he poured a glass for the young Padawan, Caleb reached out and began to drink.

"This is the second theater you've been in, huh kid?" Khan asked

Caleb looked perplexed at the term. Jon corrected himself. "Sorry, theater is military lingo for the place apart of the war takes place in, like we're in the outer rim theater."

Caleb looked back at his drink, "Yeah, Mygeeto will be my third."

Khan looked up at a mural of stars on the ceiling, "The galaxy is so big, and I end up right here where I was born, I'm surprised I haven't ran into any relatives or something. But this war will be over soon, and I intend to explore every star out there. Maybe if Depa approves, she and you can tag along."

Caleb looked up at the ceiling, at all the stars. "How do people not get lost in such a big galaxy."

Khan laughed, "Because there are two things that save someone out there, knowing that there are people who love them, and that the people who love them are looking for them."

Master Bellaba and Padawan I'zak entered the room. "Are you two boys done filling your guts yet?" Bellaba asked.

Jon raised his glass. "There's plenty of drinks behind the counter if you want some two."

I'zak shrugged. "The fleet heading for Mygeeto will be here in an hour to pick us up, I guess we have time for a drink."

Jon smiled as he pulled out more drinking cups from behind the counter. "A toast, to this happy family." He shouted.

The gunships were being loaded with the irregulars and the clones from Bellaba's unit. Khan was in the middle of a conversation with the troops and Bellaba "I'll fly escort and divert their space forces; we'll be aided by some Mandalorian I hear."

Caleb let out a loud yawn. Everyone stared at him. "Sorry, it's been a long a long day."

Bellaba went to Caleb's side. "It's okay, I'll help you to your quarters, just get rest for now, and when you're ready, wake up."

The young Caleb Dume closed his eyes, peacefully.

* * *

"Wake up." he heard.

"Wake up."

Kanan opened his eyes, he felt as though he had not moved, suddenly he was hugged by Hera. "You're okay, I'm so sorry."

Sabine exclaimed. "Careful, he could still be healing"

Zeb held out his hand. "How many figures am I holding up."

Chopper rolled right up to Kanan and softly nudged against him.

But Kanan looked at Ezra. "How long was I out for?"

"About a day." He responded softy.

Kanan sat up. "Master Khan told me there are two things that save someone when they are lost, knowing that there are people who love them, and that the people who love them are looking for them. We are those people who love him and looking for him."

Kanan got up on his feet, declining any assistance from Zeb or Hera.

He looked out the cave. He could tell it had just stop raining. The sun broke through the clouds and shined on the valley. Zeb squinted his eyes. "Look, there's the road."

Kanan pulled out the Compass, it was pulsing faster and faster.

The others began to stand side by side to Kanan, as they watch the sun rise on the horizon.

* * *

Automobiles drove past each other on a busy puddle filled street, one of the buildings was a tavern and inn, inside a man was sitting at the bar looking down at his drink, he felt something come over him, he did not turn his head but he perked up all of a sudden, straightening his posture, and sharply but silent asked himself. "Caleb?"


	10. Book 1 Chapter 10

Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 10: The City

* * *

The crew walked along a trail up a steep hill, Hera was at Kanan's side watching the compass as it began to glow brighter and brighter, pointing straight in the direction of the trail.

The others struggled trying to lug the speeders and supplied up hill. "This is getting tiring!" Grunted Zeb. He hauled one of the speeders by himself, leaving Sabine, Ezra, and Chopper working together trying to push the other up the incline.

Hera turned back and encourage the others. "Don't worry, it looks like the top is just a few feet away."

Hera and Kanan continued the steady stroll up the hill while the others gave it their all to push the speeders. All their might was put forth, the smell of burning rubber from Chopper's treads filled the air, gentle cold breezes of air cooled the sweat the three had accumulated, but eventually, the ground in front of them had turned flat, they had reached the top of the hill.

The three specters flopped themselves on the ground to catch their breaths and cool down. It did not take them long to realize Hera and Kanan were looking on the other side of the of the hill, in silence.

Ezra brought himself to his feet and walked towards them. "Hera, Kanan, is everything alright?"

Ezra turned his head in the direction they were staring, and he could not believe his eyes.

It was the biggest city he has ever seen. Bridges, skyscrapers, airships, and the glistening of glass in the sunlight showed in an amazing display in front of them.

Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper came by their sides as well to also stand in awe. Kanan looked down at the Compass, the glowing needle pointed directly to the city.

"This is it." Kanan said. "This is where Master Khan is."

Ezra pulled out a pair of macro binoculars and examined the city. "It looks like there are thousands of people and vehicles down there."

Sabine looked out towards the ocean. "It looks like they got a naval blockade out there two. And I bet those airships are military as well."

Kanan grinned. "Then you'll be happy to know he won't probably be on one of those boats."

Zeb made his way over to his pack, he pulled out two vials of the disguise spell. "These look like the last two, let's make them count Hera."

Hera took the vial and opened the top cork and proceed to dump the powder over her head.

Kanan slowly moved the compass across the horizon of the city, it appeared to be pointing towards the epicenter, downtown.

* * *

The crew made their way through the outer limits of the city, it looked a lot like the communal apartment blocks of Lothal, only the ones on Lothal looked better kept, the buildings here looked run-down, paint was pealing off the wall, and people lined the streets, walking in any direction, and some selling sweet or salty foods.

A young boy came up to Hera, looking up at her. "Ma'am do you think you can buy one of our flowers?"

Hera's eyes looked towards a flower stand. There was an elderly woman, her arms were covered in wraps used for wounds, and she was surrounded by other even younger children.

Hera felt sympathy for the family, she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out one of the coins they had. "I'll take one please."

The young boy took the coin and rushed back to the elderly woman and showed it to her, the boy then grabbed one of the flowers and made his way back to Hera. "Thank you, ma'am." The boy joyfully said, handing the flower to Hera.

Hera took the flower and smiled, she made her way over to the others, she decided to put the flower in over the ear as she saw most girls did here.

Zeb looked around seeing mostly young boys, women, and children. "There's not a single grown man here."

A soldier standing guard at a corner overheard Zeb's comment and made his way over to him. "All these people are refugees from the war, the reason why there are hardly any men here is because they either got captured by the enemy or enlisted in the army to try to liberate their homes."

Zeb looked around at the structures. "Can't you people afford to fix the place up? They can't live in these conditions."

The soldier looked up at the buildings with pity, "This was once a well-off neighborhood development, no one would buy homes here, when refugees started pouring in the King issued a purchase order to give these people homes. Then the front lines just keep getting closer and about a month ago they are in bombing range of the city. The damage and worn-down state of this place is all damage from incendiary bombs."

Zeb looked closer and he began to notice some of the paint was scorched by fire, and some of the holes did look like something heavy fell though.

"I work on one of the anti-aircraft stations just on top of that building." the soldier boasted. "We try our best to preserve a place for these folks to live. Its either here under threat, or in the crime burroughs."

"Crime burroughs?" Sabine questioned.

The soldier nodded. "Somehow, they are able to fend off aircraft better then we can, and repair the damage to buildings unlike our budget, mainly because they overcharge their debtors with inflated housing prices. Take my advice, keep away from those areas."

The soldier then went back to his post, as the rebels continued to push into the heart of downtown.

* * *

There was a vast difference between the refugees part of the city to downtown; shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues lined the streets, they also noticed, rather then soldiers in blue long coats and caps patrolling the streets, there were now men in black jackets, silver badges, and large white wide circular brim hats, armed with the six round pistols they have commonly seen.

Kanan tried not to make eye contact as he realized they were staring at them. "I think the sheriffs over there are feeling a bit uneasy about us."

Ezra looked over his shoulder and briefly caught a glimpse of them men, one of them was walking towards them now.

"he's following us now." Whispered Ezra.

"Pardon me." Called out the deputy.

The whole Ghost crew froze and turn around, trying not to act suspicious.

"Can we help you?" nervously asked Kanan.

"Yes," said the deputy. "Identifications, and weapons permits, please."

Kanan only got more nervous. "We- We're refugees, we just arrived today."

The officer looked them up and down. "You should have received a refugee identification at the port."

Hera butted in. "Our son must have dropped them, he's clumsy at times."

The officer looked into Ezra's eyes, trying to look childly innocent as possible.

"Those scars." The officer said, looking closely at the two lightsaber cuts Ezra got from the Grand Inquisitor. "An Imperial soldier must have failed his bayonet drills. I'll get you guys and escort back to the port to get new ID's."

Kanan gave a silent sigh of relief.

The officer walked over to a black and white car and reached inside for a round piece with a cable coming out at the end. He began to speak into the object and soon put it down.

"So, where are you from?" asked the officer.

"Lothal." Ezra blurted out, only to stop to realize his error.

The officer just shrugged. "There are a lot of small countries the empire seems to be running over that I never heard of."

"You have no idea." Hera said mournfully.

All of a sudden, they heard the sound of dripping, they realized it was raining. And the disguise spell was beginning to wash off of Hera and Zeb.

"Sorry we- we got to go!" shouted Kanan.

They began to run towards where they thought they could shelter themselves, but the officer began to follow them. "Wait, what's going on?" he cried out.

The crew turned into an alley way, but it was far to late to salvage the disguise spell, it had all washed off. The officer turned the corner and stood in shock and horror to see a green woman with snakes coming out of her head, and a big hairy purple creature. The officer slowly backed out of the alley. And bolted towards his car. He reached in and grabbed the device he held earlier. "I NEED BACK UP, NOW!" he screamed.

Sirens began to blare across the city, converging towards the rebels. Kanan began to dash out of the alley. "Come on!" he shouted towards the others. The citizens who saw Hera and Zeb ran in terror. The crew had realized that their options for escape had run out.

Cars came from both side of the streets, and blocked the road, officers exited their vehicles, and surrounded them.

"Do not resist, we're taking you into custody for questioning."

Zeb slowly began to reach for his bo-rifle. Kanan looked at Zeb and began to nod is disapproval. But Zeb disagreed "I'll hold them off, go find your friend."

Zeb then activated his bo-rifle and charged towards a group of officers, knocking them out and giving a clearing for the others to escape. The other crew members took the opening, and Zeb fought back any of the officers trying to pursue them, he soon found himself surrounded and feeling officers dog-piling themselves on top of him, putting his arms behind his back, and restraining him with binders.

The others ran as fast as they could. But they heard the sirens blare louder and closer from behind. Kanan drew his blaster and fired at the vehicles hitting one of its wheels, causing it to spin and crash into a light post.

"Hostile has a firearm, all deputies, weapons free, I repeat, weapons free."

The officers in the passenger seats leaned out and pulled out their revolvers and began to fire back.

Hera and Chopper were falling behind, Hera soon drew her blaster and turned to stand her ground, she began firing at the cars that approached, switching to stun as the men drew closer and closer.

Kanan tried to turn around and stop her, but she just shouted "Run!"

The words penetrated Kanan's heart, but soon a bullet ricocheting near hear snapped him out of his past and back towards Sabine and Ezra. Chopper went all out, stealing officers' clubs and hitting them as they came towards him. But suddenly, he realized there was an electrical weapon shorting him out into shutdown mode. Hera turned, to see a man in black, a blue vest, grizzled face hidden behind a brown beard, and a black large brim hat, he was wearing a pack that had electrical batteries and cables that lead to two swords, electrifying them.

"Inquisitor Bainer sir, we had the situation under control." Motioned one of the officers.

He simply grunted. "Go find the last three, take the other three to the downtown jail on charges of resisting arrest and assault with deadly weapons."

Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine rushed their way down an alley. Kanan suddenly stopped in his tracks. "No!" he stated. Sabine and Ezra turned around in confusion. "I'm not leaving her like I left my Master."

Kanan reached for his lightsaber and put the two pieces together. The then turned towards Ezra and Sabine. "Go find somewhere to hide, and find Master Khan, tell him you know Master Depa Billaba."

Ezra tried to stand with Kanan. "I'm not leaving you Kanan."

Kanan teared up. "I know you'll find me Ezra, remember your training, and good luck."

Sabine grabbed Ezra's shoulder and the two continued to walk their way down the alley, as Kanan stood firm, ready to repel what will come his way. Eventually, he heard the clicking of spurs, that man who stopped Hera came around the corner. "My name is Jacob Bainer, his royal highnesses' Inquisition of security. You're under arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, and just the general questioning of where you are really from."

Kanan activated his lightsaber. "You'll have to face me."

Bainer looked curiously at Kanan's weapon. "A Light Saber, if I'm familiar."

"You know this weapon?" Kanan asked.

Bainer nodded "I've known five people who carry a weapon just like that, and two of them I have killed." Bainer then drew his two swords, they sparked with static shock as he swung them around. "For your sake, you better know how to wield it."

* * *

Sabine and Ezra rushed their way down an alley, only to find it as a dead end. They then heard the clashing of lightsabers and static electricity. The battle sounded fierce, but then then heard a loud buzz, that was then engulfed by the painful cries of their leader.

The two began to panic, trying to find a way out, they looked up, but the walls offered no way of climbing, and the clothes lines were to fragile to support their weight. They could hide in a trash disposal bin, but Ezra had a stroke of genius. "Sabine." He said, "I got a plan."

In a mater of minuets, The Bainer and two officers turned the corner, the alley was empty, clothes were out to dry, and there was a large trash bin. Bainer squinted his eyes at the trash bin and put his ear up to it, he heard something rustle inside. He slowly reached for his revolver with one hand and put his other hand on the latch of the bin.

He then jerked the latch opened and pointed his gun at the culprit.

"Meow" cried out the creature.

Bainer lowered his weapon. One of the officers looked over Bainer's shoulder and chuckled. "Should we arrest it for being an accessory to the crime."

Bainer let out a sigh of disapproval. "Expand the search permitted, tell the others that they look like human but dress far differently from us. I'm heading back to the Downtown jail to see if I can see where in the name of the Dragons these strangers and monsters come from."

The officers and Inquisitor departed from the alley way, Ezra peaked out from under a sewer hatch, and pulled himself out. He was no longer wearing his orange jumpsuit and jacket, instead he found a grey vest and shirt, and lighter grey pants and a small knot tie. "Come on Sabine." He called out quietly.

He suddenly saw a red fabric with shoot up from out of the sewer hole, and grabbed it before it could fall in. "I'm not wearing that Ezra. Besides, these pants that came with the outfit seem to be good enough for me." Sabine emerged from the hole, she was wearing bright scarlet button down blouse a white button-down shirt underneath, white shorts, and long black socks.

"Let's go." She motioned, the two made their way out of the alley and back onto the street, but Ezra realized everyone was still staring at them in horror, but not as bad as when they saw Hera and Zeb in their true form, suddenly, a military officer approach them. The two stood deathly still. And prepared for the worse.

Her looked At Sabine directly. "You thought no one would notice?" Sabine did not respond. "We have dress laws here, and no matter how hot it is we recommend you put on a skirt or proper pants then go prancing around in public in your underwear."

Sabine blushed a hard red, she the reached for the skirt piece she tossed to Ezra and began to put it on, Ezra still looking at the military officer. When Sabine and finished putting on the skirt, the military officer nodded. "Don't let this happen again, if the law caught you it would be a heavy crown fine."

The military officer parted ways with them and continue to walk down the road.

Ezra sighed. "That could have gone much worse."

"Worse!?" Grunted Sabine, she pinned Ezra against the wall and looked him dead in the eye. "We're separated from the others, the entire city is looking for us, our only hope is in Master Khan, and worst of all, I'm wearing a dress!"

Sabine eased off Ezra and took a great step forward only to trip forward and fall face first on the ground. She picked herself up and lifted the skirt to where she could see where she was stepping.

* * *

Inquisitor Bainer made his way to the detention cells of the jail, Hera, Zeb, Kanan, and Chopper were restrained. They looked at Bainer has he entered. He then spoke. "You are outsiders, are you not?"

Zeb laughed. "No, were from a small island where people are green and purple, and we eat fruit that taste like candy." He said sarcastically. But Bainer did not seem to be amused.

"We found this among your belongings, two gold Crowns, twenty silver Crowns, and forty-two brass Crowns. It seems you know the monetary system, or you stole it."

Kanan spoke up. "Or someone who believed us gave it to us that we could buy food and lodging."

Bainer leaned in on Kanan, "And who is this individual wo was so generous to give possible enemies of the state cash."

"We're not your enemy." Hera called out.

"Right…" he suspiciously said. "Three thousand gold Crowns worth of property damage to city and private property. If you hadn't resisted arrest, we would have had a nice clam conversation over coffee and doughnuts."

"You said you've know five people who carried a lightsaber, you know their names?"

Bainer then leaned in on Kanan and smiled, "if you answer my questions, I'll answer yours."

Kanan closed his eyes and spoke. "We're from another plant, perhaps another galaxy, fighting against an intergalactic empire, the only reason we are here is to find another person who wields a lightsaber to fight back."

"Is that so?" Bainer questioned. Kanan simply nodded. "The three men still out there are Allen Green, a resistance fighter against Augustus' Empire, A private collector in the United Republic named Stephen Bishop, and there is one in the Wizards Council in the Newshire province three hundred miles north east of here. The two others I killed was a common thief named Hiroshi Gates, and some a higher-level thief named Adam Thompson." He stated. "Now, tell me, who has been helping you sneak around our country?"

* * *

Sabine and Ezra kept walking down the street, the rain had let up and nighttime was approaching. "We should probably find some lodging." Ezra sighed

Sabine began to look at the signs in confusion. "I don't have my notes, I have no clue what those signs say."

Ezra then saw a vehicle, it was yellow, with a black and white checker stripe. "I'm no linguist or an anthropologist, but I think that's a taxi."

Ezra made his way over to the vehicle, and knocked on the window, startling the man up from his sleep. "Are you on duty?" he asked?

The man inside yawned rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, where do you need to go kid?"

Ezra just though. "Some place where we can stay for the night and get a hot meal or something."

The man unlocked the doors and Ezra made his way into the back seat. Sabine tried to squeeze her dress though as it attempted to obstruct her entry. The driver looked back in curiosity. "I take it this is your first night out lovebirds?"

Ezra and Sabine looked at each other, awkwardly blushing. "Well-uh, no, we are not dating, I mean does this look like a date, it is her first time wearing a dress so…"

The driver just lifted his hand and stopped Ezra from talking. "I think I know where to take you."

The man pulled out into the road and started to drive though the town. "You're in luck you get to see so much light before they turn it off for the night-raid."

Ezra stared out the window. "It's beautiful."

The driver believed the two kids would not talk of the rest of night and turned on a radio. It sounded a lot like the holonet news, but more honest, and transparent, the reporter even mentioned there was a chance that their country might lose the war and could sue for peace with the Empire.

"Sounds like something to look forward to dread for." Sabine said sarcastically

The driver shrugged. "Just because there are a bunch of stealth subs off the coast torpedoing shipping, and aerial attacks each night doesn't mean it's not over yet, I've seen worse before."

The vehicle began to slow down, Sabine looked out as the vehicle began to approach a bright red wooden arched gateway, much like the Ming Po's on Carlac. But something was different, the Ming Po used their architecture to symbolize peace, this one was used as a check point, and rather then soldiers, it looked like it was a militia, perhaps armed more heavily then all the soldiers they had seen on their journey so far.

The driver opened his windows and handed his credentials to the man at the gate, the man looked back at him. "You should not have come here; Master Chan has been talking about making you pay for pay off the debt today."

The driver took his credentials back. "Hey, Kai, listen, radio ahead to Master Chan, and tell him I have just enough money to pay him off today, just tell him to meet me at the inn."

The man shrugged and spoke in a language that was not basics or interpretable by the two rebels, but a gate arm blocking the entrance to the community opened up and the driver drove his car in.

"Where are we exactly?" Ezra questioned.

"the Red Dragon's Burroughs." The driver responded.

Ezra leaned forward in his seat. "Isn't this one of the crime Burroughs?"

"Yep." He answered. "Chan Song controls this entire area of real estate and operates one of the biggest crime rings in the Kingdom Alliance."

"What kind of crime?" Sabine questioned

"Smuggling mainly guns to resistance factions and contraband goods to the people in the west, and he smuggles contraband goods from the United Republic and the Empire here. He also runs all the real estate in this area, owns a prestigious inn, restaurant, and supports his mother's bakery as legitimate businesses."

He pulled the taxi to the curb, right in front of the prestigious inn. "Twenty-six brass Crows is your total."

Ezra reached into his pockets and pulled out three brass Crowns. The friendly smile was replaced with fear on the driver's face. He then turned forward, and threw his face on the steering wheel, activating the horn, and startling all the nearby civilians. He then picked up his head and sighed. "Welp, I'm here anyways, time to make my last night memorable." He remarked. He got out of the cab and walked right in.

* * *

Ezra and Sabine got out of the cab, and walked in, the place was prestigious, the walls were magnificently painted, the ceilings had the imagery of dragons flying around the sky, the decoration was gold, red and jade, it was clear that this Master Chan had been a successful man in both crime and legitimate business. They saw the driver at the bar. "My usual." He sobbed.

Ezra and Sabine made their way to the counter. "We'll have what he's having."

The barkeep looked down at them. "Aren't you a little young to be ordering this stuff?"

Sabine rolled her eyes, just like Hera, she though. The barkeep went under the counter and pulled out two bottles and popped off the caps. "Sarsaparilla's for the kids. One and a half brass Crowns please."

Ezra pulled out two of the three brass Crowns they had and gave it to the barkeep, they pulled the open bottles towards himself and Sabine, and the two began drinking the contents of the bottle.

They looked over at the driver, who just downed a tiny glass of liquid, he was clearly uneasy and nervous. But something felt oddly familiar about him. Sabine could not feel it, but Ezra felt like he knew this man, but before he had the chance to ask, three men in dark suits surrounded him.

"The master would like to see you." One of them grunted.

The driver raised his hands. "Khole, Lee, Thomas, good to see you all here, Tell Chan there's been a complication- "

"Why don't you tell me yourself!" called out a man. The atmosphere in the restaurant went dead silent. There approached a man in a dark suit, with fancy highlights, a golden pocket watch, red tie with gold decoration, a bowler cap, and a frustrated expression across his face. He was the Master Chan the two Rebels have been hearing about. "The boys told me you said you had the money at the gate." He called out.

The driver's anxiety picked up as he tried to squeeze himself out of the situation. "Well, that's the funny part, I thought I had the money, but-"

Chan had made his approach closer and struck the Driver on the face. "Take him to my office, now!" he barked. "John Khan will pay of his insolence this night."

Sabine and Ezra suddenly realize that driver was Master Khan the whole time.

Master Chan turned to all the patrons of the restaurant. "Forgive the disturbance, for a show of good hospitality, desert or the next round of drinks is on the house."

The atmosphere of the restaurant returned to normal, as Chan began to make his way to an elevator. Sabine and Ezra saw this as their only chance, they bolted from their seats and blocked Chan's path.

The crime lord looked down on the two young rebels. "Is there something I can help you with tonight?"

"Yes, we are wondering what our uncle has done now?" Ezra stated.

Chan was confused, he looked up at John. "You never said you had a nephew or Niece."

John chuckled. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

Chan looked at the two and back at John. "Come with us." He motioned Ezra and Sabine to the Elevator, the three stepped inside, Sabine saw the pistols under the men's suit jackets as they closed the doors and pressed the buttons to activate the elevator.

They passed three other floors before the Elevator stopped, the guards opened the door, and escorted them down the hall to a set of sliding doors.

The room was made with fine woodwork, training equipment, and to the side of the room, Ezra saw a shrine, with a golden sword, he quietly slowed his pace to get out of eyesight, once he was cleared, he made his way towards the sword.

The craftsmanship looked highly detailed, from the handle it looked like a dragon was breathing out fire and the blade. But more then that, Ezra swore he heard voices, calling out from the sword itself. He reached out his hand to grab the handle, only for the Chan to break him from the trance. "Please, do not touch that. That sword is a family heirloom and is older than time itself."

Ezra retreated his hands. "Sorry, it's just, I felt- never mind." He walked back towards the group, as they entered another set of sliding doors. Behind those doors was an office, books, filing cabinets, statues, and paperwork was all around the office, on the wall to the side was a full map of the planet, and behind the desk was a fancy chair, and a view of the city from a large open terrace.

Chan walked behind the desk and sat down in the chair. The two guards brought John to his knees, and brought his head up to look at Master Chan.

"For nine years John, you have pushed back your rent, taken loans and mortgages, promising to pay them all back one day."

John stuttered a bit. "W-wait, you're calling in a-all the debts. Today was the deadline for the apartment."

Chan shrugged. "The apartment rent was due four years ago, but you kept trying to give me a portion and took twice the interest in penalty. And let's not forget them loans for maintaining your taxicab, electricity, gas, and water bills, the occasional need for groceries, and several other listed as 'recreational.' What do you have to say for yourself?"

John was trying to find excuses. But Sabine raised her voice. "How much does he owe you?"

Chan looked at Sabine and pulled up one of the papers. "Thirty Gold Crowns. Why do ask?"

Sabine stood confidently. "Our parents may have enough to pay off the debt, they are out of the city tonight, but if you give us one day, we can pay you in full before tomorrow night."

Chan took a moment. He then got up from his chair and approach John. "You are lucky their parents dumped them off with you tonight. Thirty gold Crowns, or I'll have to take one more loan with your name on it for the tombstone engraver."

Chan motioned to his guards, the men lifted John off the ground and back on his feet. John dusted off the dirt off his knees and made his way towards the door, Ezra and Sabine followed, glancing back at Chan, he almost reminded them of Vizago, only twice as terrifying.

The three reached the street, John turned to the two kids. "Who are you, and why did you stick your necks out for me?"

"You are Jon Khan, right?" Ezra questioned. "My master, Kanan Jarrus know you, we need your help."

"Don't know a Kanan Jarrus, kid." John said sheepishly. He began to make his way into his cab when Sabine recalled what Kanan also said.

"He knows Master Depa Billaba." She blurted out.

Khan just was about to step in when he froze solid, his gaze would not leave Sabine, soon he responded. "Get in the car."

* * *

The cab drove down the road, amidst all the neon signage and traffic. Khan looked like this was the happiest day of his life. "I can't believe, they actually got the message. Which one of you is a jedi?"

"I am." Ezra announced triumphantly. "Kanan is my master."

Khan was a bit confused. "I don't recall ever meeting a jedi named Jarrus at the Temple."

"Well, his master is Depa Billaba." Ezra responded.

Khan was even more confused. "No, her padawan was a nice kid by the name of Caleb Dume. How are they anyways? How is everyone?"

Sabine looked at Ezra, giving nods of disapproval. Ezra agreed with Sabine, it was far to early for John to learn the truth. "It's a long story, for another time." He quietly said, hoping John would not notice the change in his tone of voice.

John did not seem to notice the dread in Ezra's voice, and pressed his next question. "At least tell me no one tampered with my room."

Sabine tried to think of a subtle way of trying to explain it. "Some old hag might have moved into your space when you disappeared."

John took a moment to think, then slammed his fist on the steering wheel. "Jocasta! Make too much noise in her library and she'll find a way to get even."

The cab took a turn into a lot, an apartment lot. John parked the Cab and went to one of the doors of the building. Once the door was opened, Ezra and Sabine entered. It was a lot more spacious on the inside, and it was relatively cozy and well kept, almost like Kanan's room on the Ghost.

Master Khan was in a small closet off the side, he began to pry at the wall, removing a precut piece, revealing a secret stash of weapons, he laid all the weapons before the rebels on the floor, and sat down to inspect some of the weapons.

Sabine began to admire on the assortments of blaster rifles, pistols both from their galaxy and this planet. Ezra was looking at the Jedi gear, the utility belt, remains of a tattered jedi robe, and his lightsaber.

Ezra picked up Khan's lightsaber, and ignited the blade, it was a bright magnificent blue just like his and Kanan's. John watched as Ezra admired his lightsaber, once Ezra seemed to have enough John noted. "I was quite versed with a lightsaber, but my skill was in marksmanship, it's a tradition that has run in my family for a long time, and not even the jedi order could try to server that connection, and they tried." He turned to Sabine. "And what about you? You don't seem the jedi type."

Sabine smiled. "I'm a Mandalorian, we're part of a crew Ezra and I, and four others."

Khan all of a sudden was catching on to something. "Wait, if Ezra, and this Kanan Jarrus are Jedi, what are they doing with a crew, isn't the war still going on, or is it over?"

Ezra put down the lightsaber, and dreadfully replied; "It ended fifteen years ago."

John cracked a huge smile. "So the Republic won!"

Sabine interrupted. "Actually, this is where things get complicated."

Khan leaned in, the smile gone, and listening closely. As Sabine spoke.

"Palpatine declared himself Emperor and turned the Republic into the Galactic Empire. He declared the Jedi as enemies and had all if not the vast majority of them all killed."

John was dead silent, tears running down his eyes. "Master Billaba, and Caleb?"

Ezra spoke trying to be respectful and careful in his tone; "Kanan told me his master was gunned down by their own clones."

John took a moment, he sat up and began to walk to a room off to the side and closed the door behind him.

Ezra got up and tried to enter the room, but it was locked. He looked to see if Sabine had ideas, but she had begun to look around the apartment, especially with the black and white pictures on the wall. She noticed Ezra was watching him. "He just needs time to make peace with what has happened." She said. "Give him a few hours. We should probably get some rest and get myself out of this dress."

Ezra made his way over to a chair, and sat himself down, his thoughts began to wander on Zeb, Hera, Chopper, and Kanan.

* * *

The cell door open, Inquisitor Bainer walked out triumphantly from the cell. He faced the guard at the door. "Alert the King first thing in the morning, he is going to want to see this."

The guard looked at the rebels inside, they had expressions of guilt, anguish, and sorrow, she turned back to Bainer and asked. "Why does the King need to get involved?"

Bainer cracked a sinister grin. "This will change the course of our history forever."

The cell door closed, as the rebels remained inside, hoping for rescue to come.


End file.
